Happy Holidays!

In case I am not able to post while in Tennessee on Holiday, Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone who is traveling (or has already traveled) has a safe trip and enjoys this time with family and loved ones.

Ann Arbor has been a desolate place since all of the students have departed for their respective homes......it kinda reminds me of the summer when Ann Arbor is a peaceful, pleasant town that feels more like a great place to live rather than a crowded college town. I love Ann Arbor regardless of the state of the fluctuating population, it is just more easy-paced without the undergrads all over the place. :)

I went to the mall this afternoon to buy my sister and Josh a Christmas present and I made it in and out of that madhouse within 35 minutes! I was on a mission, weaving through the crowd, walking by all of the parents and their children in the ENDLESS line to visit with "the big guy" (not that one, the one who wears the red suit), and making split-second decisions regarding the appropriate gift to buy. I got Josh this great music-instrument set from the Discovery Channel Store. It has a drum (that duals as a container to hold all of the other musical instruments), a set of maracas, a tambourine, a recorder (as in flute-thingy), and a mini rain stick.
The guy at the counter and I had an interesting exchange:
guy at counter: kids love these [instrument set], but parents aren't too thrilled.
me: yeah, it is for my nephew and he lives with me, so I'm bringing this upon myself.
guy at counter: nice. good luck with that.

We opened all of our presents from each other and from our mom while we listened to classic Christmas music. It was nice :)

On a completely unrelated subject, thanks to Kara for introducing me to Matt Pond PA!! I downloaded their latest CD "Several Arrows Later" tonight as a gift to myself in preparation for the 9 hour car trip tomorrow. And I'm lovin' it. My favorite song so far is "It Is Safe". Once I get more money I'll download the "Emblems" CD that has "Lily Two" on it.....
Oh, I live for new, great, beautiful music.

So I leave for Tennessee in about 7 hours. Darn. I should get some sleep. You never know what grandma will throw your way, so I gotta be alert, on my toes, and prepared to field all imaginable questions and appropriately react to random comments. She's a wiley one.....which is why I love her :).

Here is a pic of our beautiful tree:

I *heart* Chris Martin

Quote:
"We're kinda musically bisexual....we like both".
-Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, speaking on how the band enjoys being on the road AND in the studio (from their recent performance on Austin City Limits).

Michael Stipe of REM made a guest appearance on the show and he perfomed "Nightswimming", which has to be one of my favorite REM songs. I was fortunate to see them (REM) in concert in 1995.

Again, I must reiterate that I love creative people. Both men mentioned above definitely fall into that category.

So, on to bigger and better things. I'm done with this semester!! I went to a great girls-night dinner party Monday night after we finished our last final. Great food, fun girl convo, and cosmopolitan martinis. :)

Tuesday night I had an amazing dinner prepared quite skillfully by Kyle. He went all out and thought of everything--including desert! Then we hung out "at home" for the first time ever, really. It has always been catching a drink, having a nice dinner out, or studying. And I found out that he didn't quite LOVE "White Christmas" as much as I do---Beth, we'll have to watch it after break, OK?

I have to buy A christmas present (as in one) before Friday, which is gonna be interesting considering I'm completely broke. I actually had to cancel plans to see a movie that I really wanted to see because I have no money. Life as a student stinks sometimes.

Other interesting tidbits:
Check out these hilarious comics that my sister sent me:

The Best Birthday Week EVER

I must say that this past week, well, Thursday night on has been great. The best part of the weekend: my Birthday celebration with K and friends on Saturday night. K took me out for an incredible dinner and after-dinner drink (with a sweet little pre-dinner surprise) and then we met up with some friends at a local martini bar to enjoy some live music. I can't help but say that K made it a very enjoyable evening. :)

Thursday night was the "Erin's off of probation and Janine's bday" party. There were tons of funny and random pics taken, with a few posted below.

I went to my friend Peter's birthday party Friday night and instead of gifts he suggested that whomever was interested participate in a Music Exchange. Basically, make a mix cd. The good thing about this was that people who made cds made enough copies so that everyone participating got one. The end result: 8 new mixed cds for my listening pleasure.
I'm so excited!

Some people I know left the party before taking their required "Dance Dance Revolution" turn......(including me) :) Peter was having way too much fun with DDR for anyone else to even compare with his mad skills.

Now afer taking quite an extended nap this afternoon I'm back to studying for my LAST final tomorrow. After that it's all about the "Holiday Feast" at Beth's, work, visiting K in Detroit, last-minute Christmas stuff, then heading down to Tennessee for a crazy Christmas with the family.

The Party Girls
Beth, Me, and Damon after drinking Erin's "Invisible Kool-Aid" Punch
Hal, AJ and Me after MORE punch :)

Wax-on, wax-off

There is a point to all of this (seemingly unnecessary) work, right? Do I really need to know the derivation for the proportional hazards regression equation? Will I thank Dr. Biostats down the road when I am battling Johnny and the evil forces of SAS-gone-bad? Crane-move, my ass. (If you don't get the reference, you're too young--c'mon Sol, you should know it!!)

Ahh, studying for 12 hours straight makes me crazy.....and there's such a long way to go.

Redeeming moment in the midst of finals-hell: Christmas packages from mom arrived tonight! That means homemade breads and cookies. Mmmmmmmmm! Too bad my sedentary lifestyle over the past 4 days means that I'll have to refrain from enjoying too many of those cookies, otherwise I'll be rolling myself out of the door to head to Tennessee for Christmas. Boy do I want to go for a run.

So do I include some ghetto music on the mix cd to be distributed at Peter's bday party Friday night?.....somehow I just don't think "I wanna get to know you" by G-Unit will go over well with that crowd. It IS fun in that ghetto sorta way :).

What a happy birthday!

"THE BIG 28"
Today was a good day, nevermind the fact that I had work, class, and studying to do, it really didn't matter. What made it a good day: friends and family who wished me a happy birthday :).

So thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes via text message, email, phone call, blog posting, ecards, and real cards (thanks AJ and Kara!), and just by saying "Happy Birthday". Ya'll are great.

AND YOU KNOW I'LL BE CELEBRATING THURSDAY NIGHT!!

My sister brought home birthday pizza for dinner (I actually requested it) and a really tasty chocolate cake. And Josh sang Happy Birthday to me. Gotta love that.

OK, my study break for the evening is over. Back to Global Health and the health problems of the world......the only thing is that I'm listening to my ipod and I keep thinking of songs to add to Peter's birthday cd.....FOCUS!!

As I told a friend today, the longer I'm in grad school the more I think I have ADD. I just can't seem to not multitask when I have stuff to do. I guess some would call that procrastination, too. Hee.

I can see again!

I have spent the past week reading journal articles and writing papers. So much eye strain! But I finished my social epi paper this afternoon and turned it in. Now I am well versed in community-level socioeconomic status and the incidence of low birth weight in infants. It really isn't that interesting. I did have some fun, well, a lot of fun Friday night with Kyle. And today I took a little shopping break with the birthday money my mom sent me (Thanks mom! I bought a really great silky shirt for Christmas time!) and then decorated the HUGE Christmas tree my sister and Josh brought home yesterday while I was in the paper-haze. The tree is so big that we had to rearrange the livingroom furniture in order to fit it in. It takes up practically a whole corner of the room! But it smells like a Christmas tree and gives off that Christmas tree glow when all lit up. I love it.

That was probably the only break I'll get until my two finals are over on Thursday. I guess as you get older Birthdays don't really matter as much because I didn't really realize that my birthday is tomorrow until today. Besides the cards from relatives (which I appreciate) I received a really great present in the mail from my dad's girlfriend: a weekend bag. It is big and leather and just what I said I had wanted when I visited them at Thanksgiving. So now I can go away for the weekend and feel like a grown up carrying my nice new weekend bag. :)

I'll post pics of our big beautiful tree when I take some and I'll be sure to post lots of pics from this coming weekend's festivities: party Thursday night, party Friday night and then my birthday dinnner with Kyle Saturday night.

"Good things......"

Tonight my fortune cookie read: "Good things are coming to you in the due course of time". How true. While I am incredibly stressed out I've felt quite invigorated and happy over the past week. Why? Don't know. But, I'm guessing it has something to do with a subconscious feeling of accomplishment for actually getting shit done for a change. I finished my big presentation this past Monday, finished my 10 page final paper for Global Health today (it was due at 3....) and I'm finally making very promising progress on the PhD front.

I am happy to report that I've had two very successful meetings this week with MDs who are interested in working with me on my dissertation. YAY!! Both are very accomplished and incredibly intelligent, and big players at the school of public health and the UM medical school. I had very little expectation going into these meetings that I'd get much more than a "yes, well, I wish you luck in your pursuits" so you can imagine my surprise when I was met with "let me know if you want to sit down in the future and really brain storm on your dissertation ideas.....let me know if you need an internship or work study......I'm going down to this conference in March, if you attend I'll introduce you around if this is the area you want to focus on......I'd be happy to be on your dissertation committee". And that was only one of the MDs at one of the meetings. The second meeting was even more promising: "....when I looked at your CV I thought that this is someone I'd really like to sit down with........I have a project in mind that I think you'd be perfect for since our interests are in line with one another........I'm excited about the possibility of working with you as either a co-chair or chair of your dissertation committee".

So now I ask: do you ever feel like you're fooling everyone?

This was way more than I expected and nothing is decided on or set in stone by any means, but just the thought that these two very influential men were interested in working with me is enough to make me a little happy. And none of this was meant as bragging :)

It is going to be non-stop studying until December 19. I have another 10 page paper to write by this coming Monday, two finals next Thursday, and my final final on the 19th. Too bad next Tuesday is my birthday--no time to celebrate! I will be going to Detroit to hang out with Kyle this weekend, if you can call writing a paper and studying for 2 med school finals "hanging out". I'm sure we'll have fun, even if it is through me making fun of his big headphones as he watches his med school lectures.....I can be brutal ; )

OK, the Mega M&Ms I was munching on are starting to make me sleepy--the down fall of a sugar high. I'll make sure to try and squeeze in some updates on the ever exciting happenings of my life when I can. That was a joke.

Here's a pic of me being maliciously attacked by my sister. She employed the debilitating face-smush manuever. Damn her.

Beauty and the Procrastinator

Why am I procrastinator?? I guess it is because I just don't work well until there is pressure. I have a 10 page paper on a Global Health issue due day after tomorrow and I just now printed out articles to read in order to write the paper. We've known about it since the first day of class.

It isn't like I've been sitting around not doing anything. I have been pretty darn busy over the past several weeks.

Katie's visit was a successful vacation and tour of "Winterland". She loved Ann Arbor and loved meeting all of my friends, along with experiencing the snow and cold. She's a trooper. We had a little gathering of friends on Friday night and I think everyone had a good time.....I drank too much wine on an empty stomach, so I'm hoping everyone had a good time because some things are a little fuzzy. Comments or complaints are gladly accepted :)

I was sitting at the bus stop today and it was lightly snowing, the flakes falling slowly and swirling around in the air. A few would drift onto my black down jacket and for the first time in my life I noticed the beauty of a single snowflake. Usually they all huddle together and create the nice fat flakes that I love--you know, the "pretty snow". I was amazed by the intricacy and detail and at the accuracy of the typical depictions of a snowflake seen this time of year in store windows and cut out of white paper. I just thought people were getting fancy. Mother nature is truly good.

This is my snowflake. Pretty, isn't it?

Pics from the "Katie Visit":

Party People
Me and Katie
Jess, Josh, and Me
Scared Katie : )

False alarm and Katie has arrived!

The nurse from the UHS clinic called today to give me the culture results from the freakish rash under my eye......it turns out that the culture came back negative for both Shingles and Herpes. I didn't have either, which is great news but as she said, they don't know what I had. Huh. Things are all cleared up now and I'm back to perfect health, but that doesn't change the fact that I took anti-viral meds for 10 days unnecessarily. Grumble. But I guess I'm better safe than sorry : )

KATIE IS HERE!! I picked her up from the airport tonight and it was definitely a girl-type of reunion at the airport with lots of giggles and hugs.....but none of that obnoxious high-pitched squealing. We hate that. We caught up over a yummy dinner at Prickly Pear and it was just like I said it would be: like we saw each other just last weekend. We have lots of fun stuff planned for the visit and she'll be meeting all of my close friends, so it should be a fantastic time. She's coming to some of my classes with me tomorrow (wisely opting out of the 2 hours worth of biostatistics) then social time will be upon us. I'll be sure to post lots of pics from the weekend festivities : )

goodnight!

The Holiday Season Begins

Well, after my last post, which probably bordered on scary, I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better after a few nice days of family, laughs, and lots and lots of food. Too much food. I've been taking my meds 5 times a day and the bad part about that is they make me nauseous so I have to eat a little when I take them. Couple that with having lots of good food around and you get lots of eating.

Thanksgiving break was nice. I procrastinated Wednesday night and didn't start packing until around 11:30, which meant that I got about 4 hours of sleep before the flight. Oops. Our trip out to DC took forever due to a delayed flight, an occupied gate at Regan National (our plane had to sit and wait for 20 minutes before the other plane left), and a broken baggage claim carousel. After getting up at 5:00 that morning we finally made it to Jillene's house around 2:30 pm. We had "The Dinner" around 4 and then I crashed on the sofa for about an hour....I just couldn't help it! It ended up being one of those nights where you look at the time and say "it's only 7pm?? It feels like it's 10!". Dad had rented a bunch of old movies, so we watched "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (which brought my dad to tears--he's a softy) and a "classic" Burt Lancaster movie called "Come Home, Little Sheba". Yeeaaahhhh.

Friday was a beautiful day in DC! Dad took us for a tour of the Pentagon and I must say that it is a pretty impressive building. We saw the memorial for the people killed on 9/11 and looked at all of the history displays scattered through the halls. The place is a mini museum! We saw his office and met a co-worker or two. No windows, though. Then back to the house for leftovers and more movies--dad went modern on us for Friday night's selection and we watched "Dirty Filthy Love" and "Modigliani". Jess and Lydia (Jillene's daughter) went to see the new Harry Potter and get this, they left before it was even over!! I'm glad I didn't go with them otherwise we would have had some words in the theater. I was dying to see "Rent" but didn't have the opportunity....maybe when Katie's in town.

We actually braved the mall on Saturday. My dad is one of those people who gets super impatient very easily, so it was a TON of fun for him : ) I joke that he was meant to be a NYC cab driver because he honks at other drivers for no reason at all. No joke, the half hour I was in the car with him he honked at least 5 times. It drives me NUTS!! At the mall Jillene and I went into a total of 4 stores and according to my dad it was "The Longest Mall Trip EVER". We take his complaining with a grain of salt. He was sulking during the car ride back to Jillene's: after surfing the radio stations and changing CDs several times he had to listen to HIS music (smooth jazz, which sounded a lot like the weather channel) despite my and Jillene's protests. My response was "well, you didn't have to come along, now did you?" He did some more grumbling. Ah, if only I had the money to buy stuff--window shopping makes me depressed, that's why I avoid the mall if I can't buy anything. I'll be a shopping fiend after I get gift cards at Christmas. Saturday night was more of the same: food (no leftovers!), a movie, bed. It was relaxing, but the majority of the time I was thinking about all the stuff I need to get done when I get back home.

Spending time with dad is great. He's incredibly funny and everything just feels at ease when we're all together. He and I have the kind of relationship where I can tell him whatever I'm thinking and call him on being unreasonable when appropriate.....all with total respect, of course. He gets sad when Jess, Josh, and I leave.....he'll call us after we leave to make sure we made it home OK and tell us that he misses us. Jillene left for another trip to London a couple hours after we left and he called tonight and said that he told Jillene that the four people he cares most about left today. Awwww.....

Christmas will be here before we know it. SO much to do before then! Better get started........
Here are some pics from this weekend:

Dad Cookin' in the Kitchen
Me and Dad
Dad presenting his masterpiece for all to enjoy

Happy Thanksgiving! (and no shingles!)

Is it almost December already?? Really?? What's up with the time going by so fast? Man, I'm about to turn another year older......28 is a good age, I think. Good thing I've never been one of those girls who has their life planned out year by year. I've always thought that to be a little silly and ultimately disappointing; what if you don't meet your deadlines? It could force you to settle and settling is never good. And I think I've finally convinced my grandma that "my time" hasn't passed (please, grandma just because I wasn't married by the time I was 24, don't assume I'm never gonna get there). Although, it'll be pretty hard to make substantial progress BEING PERPETUALLY SICK. Thank goodness Thanksgiving break is upon us--I seriously need some time to recuperate both mentally and physically! Just when I thought I was in the clear my body decided to play a nasty trick on me. I must say that it is quite a leap of faith assuming that my friends who read this blog won't treat me like a leper when they see me next.......but I do have great friends : )
OK, for those of you who aren't medically knowledgeable or haven't taken courses in virology, read EVERYTHING I'm about to write before freaking out, OK?
I went to University Health Services Monday due to a rash under my left eye. Turns out that I may have either: Shingles or.......Herpes......on my face.

Yeah, don't freak out.

It is a MEDICAL FACT that 90% of the adult population has this type of Herpes. There are two types of herpes and let me make myself clear, this isn't the type of herpes that you get from sex and see all of those late night commercials about, it is the type of herpes that brings about cold sores and canker sores and they can surface anywhere on your body, it just usually happens to be the mouth. I have never had a cold sore, but I have had canker sores in the past. I guess that since my immune system has been stressed the virus decided to wake up and pay a visit and chose my lower left eyelid as its vacation spot. Here's a quote for you: I hope I have herpes and not shingles. If you want an explanation for that statement, email me or look up the difference between the two regarding side effects in the medical dictionary (and keep in mind that my eye may potentially be affected ) : )

So here's a summary of my current shitty health situation: I have a rash under my eye that itches like you won't believe, but I can't scratch or else it'll spread (flash back to your childhood encounter with the chicken pox), I can't sleep at night, I'm still recovering from my head cold, the anti-viral meds I'm taking 5 times a day to help prevent the spread of whatever it is I have make me nauseous and run me down, and my mental health is definitely taking a hit from all of it.

Bring on the turkey and cranberry sauce!! Please!!

I've been slackin' on the posts

I spent the majority of last week sleeping. I still attended my classes and went to work, but I went to bed early and tried to get a minimum of 10 hours of sleep a night; one night I even hit the 14 hour mark. For some reason I think that sleeping a lot helps heal a cold. I'll have to ask my med school friend, but I think I may be on to something there. I was feeling good all week until Friday morning after an hour in a smokey bar, half hour standing in the cold, and then getting to bed at 3 am Thursday night. Darn it! I know, I over-extended myself with social activities. Even after Thursday night it wasn't that I was feeling sick, it was just that my voice was gone. Seriously. It is funny when people you've known for years call you and they don't recognize your voice. Mike, one of my best friends, called friday morning to check in and say his last "hello" as a bachelor before his wedding on Saturday. He wasn't sure he was talking to the right person : ) I was supposed to go to Atlanta for Mike's wedding, but being broke and short on time I ended up being a bad friend and not able to make it. So, Mike, I love you and wish you and Laura all of the happiness in the world.....and I can't wait to meet her! (But don't forget, Laura may be George's step-mom now, but I'll always be his mama) ; )

Baby George after bringing him home from the Humane Society
I'll have to post a tribute to Mike. He's the sole reason I survived the 4 years in Atlanta post-undergrad, pre-Grad school. He means the world to me and I'll never be able to repay him for all he's done for me and my family. A truly wonderful man and if the stars had aligned and times were different I would have married him when I had the chance ; )

Whew, back to my very un-domesticated grad student life. I had a great time with Kyle at his med school post-test party friday night. Who would have guessed those crazy people at the club were serious students, well, until they started quizzing eachother on pancreas position or something--I've never heard such vocabulary! But, seriously, everyone was a lot of fun and very nice. Way to go Kyle for having great friends!

My voice was still non-existant Saturday when I woke up for the Michigan vs. OSU game. I met up with my friend Alison to head to the game and on the way there we passed all of the frat and house parties on State St. with drunken undergrads dancing on rooftops (literally), throwing giant blow-up penises with "Fuck Ohio" written on them around their frat lawns......ahhh, the smell of stale beer at 11 am. One younger kid walking to the game with his parents was in awe of all the "College Kids Gone Wild" and proceeded to give everyone high fives as he passed. His mother had a definite look of horror as she watched him enjoy the craziness that is game day tailgating.

Anyone who follows college football and has been anywhere near a tv in the past 24 hours knows that we lost to OSU; and to make matters worse the refs blew a call that MAY have changed the outcome. One thing I've learned about the differences between men and women when it comes to football (and sports in general) is this: women will be upset and disappointed when their team loses, but they let it go and move on (usually to wings and beer). Men sit with their disappointment. They commiserate with each other and talk about it over and over again. They bond over mutual hurt and anger. I witnessed it last night. My friend turned to a total stranger sitting behind him and started "the game" conversation. It lasted for at least 5 minutes and at the end of it you'd think they had been stranded on a desert island together, said goodbye with a "great to talk to you, man" and a handshake. I think this is the common thread between the sexes. Men and women have certain things that make them utterly happy that the other sex just doesn't understand and the same emotional reaction to disappointment, but with women it is usually relationship-related and for men it is sports-related. But I doubt any man will ever admit to seeing both circumstances as similar.....after all, it IS football. Now, I am not mocking men and sports--I'm actually intrigued and in awe of it.....I guess it is because I just don't and probably never will truly understand the bond. But I can appreciate and support it.....just as long as I'm appreciated and supported on woman-stuff like a new pair of shoes, or that concert/movie that a man doesn't really want to go to, but a woman would love for him to go to. It's all give and take : ) And really, what man is truly going to understand how that special pair of shoes can make us SO happy? Common thread, common thread....

After the game I went to the usual post-game meet up place for a beer and some wings with my friends. Usually it is just a starting place for the night; we meet there for a little while then head home to rest or nap, change clothes, and meet up later. Last night didn't quite work out like that. I had every intention of staying for only an hour or two, but ended up hanging around as friends came and went and came back again and as the beers kept coming. That's the problem when you're drinking with guys....they drink faster and they expect you to keep up, then when you finish that tall 23 oz. beer they order you another....before you know it you've had 5 tall beers and a round of shots with only 6 little chicken wings in your belly. Oops. But, it was fun. Not responsible, but fun.

Oh, and I loved the new Harry Potter movie! Not really for little kids with the return of Voldemort being quite graphic and scary, even for a 27 year old woman who knows exactly what is going to happen : )

Katie is coming to visit!

Katie is finally coming to visit! To adequately understand how exciting this is to me, you need to know the background.
It all started first day freshman year of high school, 1992. I walked into homeroom knowing only 3 people out of the 375 in my freshman class......I was a little nervous. A short bubbly girl walked up to me and said (really fast) "Hi my name is Katie Dillon, what's your name?".

Katie and I were fast friends. After graduating high school we went to the same college and roomed together for all four years (and managed to remain friends in the process!). I was the maid of honor at her wedding and we were never out of touch for long while she went to grad school at Princeton and I worked in Atlanta. With our busy schedules it has been difficult to visit each other, so it has been over a year since I've last seen her!! Katie keeps me grounded, she calls me on my shit, and she knows me better than anyone else in my life. She's seen me at my best and worst and she loves me no matter what. It'll be like we saw each other just last weekend.

One of my favorite Katie moments:
Katie: "Hey Neen, do you want these vitamins? They taste horrible!"
Janine: "That's because they aren't chewable....you're supposed to swallow them!"
Katie: giggle.

I'm feeling much better after sleeping 14 hours last night......so I'll be better in no time! Perfect for the big UM vs. OSU weekend!!

I asked for it.

Me, AJ, and Hal
I danced and danced and then danced some more Saturday night. It was 3.5 solid hours of dancing. People were doing some unnatural things on the dance floor--solo, in pairs, and in chains of up to 5 people. It made for an entertaining spectacle. But the atmosphere at Rick's wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Below are some pics. In one of them I look completely drunk, but I assure you, I only had 3 drinks!

Maybe it was the late night Friday, or the football game, or the late night Saturday at Rick's.....possibly the run and work out on Sunday......whatever it was, I'm now battling "The Cold of the Semester". I hate being sick. Sleepless nights--or even worse, the NyQuil Nights where you think you'll get peaceful sleep, but you just toss and turn in that strange dream world. I'm trying hard to fight it off, but I fear I'm losing the battle. Regardless, I will be better by Friday for another "Rock Star Weekend" (not my saying, really).
I have too much to do!! I can't be sick!!
ugh.

Pics from Rick's Bar:

Me and AJ
Beth, Julia, and Erin
Me (not drunk) reacting to beer being spilled down my shirt. Lovely!

Just let me dance!

It's amazing how finishing a test makes me happy--IMMEDIATELY. I wasn't particularly worried about the test, but it was a daunting 2-hour experience with a "Mystery Question" that always throws us kids for a loop. There are 3 parts to the test: 18 true/false questions, one multi-question analysis part where we interpret SAS output and models, and then the "mystery" part. This test's mystery question was the following;
3. (10 points) In this last problem, you will be asked to consider data from a recently reported abstract in the medical literature......blah, blah....[excerpt from the paper outlining the objectives of the study and the findings]. Then we're given the covariates that were measured and a list of assumptions and told to "describe in detail the logistic regression models whose odds ratio are being reported on in the abstract".
Wha? Sounds like fun, doesn't it?!?
Luckily, this section is only 10% of the test grade and he gives partial credit. I ran into the prof after the test and he said "I made it through grad school on partial credit" : )

On to bigger and better things ; )
Friday night: Kyle is coming into town and we're going out for drinks.
Saturday: PHSA tailgate and UM football game followed by the "American Products Party" at Kara and Julia's house, where we have to bring American food/drinks or wear our favorite "Made in the USA" clothing. Franzia boxed wine will be provided. Then we move on to Rick's Club for some much needed dancing! While I usually avoid Rick's (yucky frat boys and girls straight out of "Girls Gone Wild") I NEED TO DANCE. I haven't been out at all since Halloween and haven't really been dancing since the beginning of September........the "dance reservoir" is full and the time has come.
Studying will be done on Sunday and in the gaps in between the other events. I know, it seems wrong to prioritize going out over studying, but I'm really not........I'll still get a lot done! AND just so you know, I declined an invite to go out to a club last Saturday night. See?

So Sleepy......

I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night thanks to an ill-timed text message at 1 am. I was sound asleep, heard the little text-ring from my phone, and then couldn't fall back asleep for 2 more HOURS.

Naturally, I thought that I'd be super sleepy today, but I had an epiphany and the subsequent excitement kept me on the go for a while. We had a guest speaker for our Policy class and while the presentation wasn't great, the info rocked my world! I've been under a cloud of indecision and procrastination regarding the PhD application process. I've been trying to figure out how to combine and focus my interests in order to identify faculty members who would make effective mentors for my research and wouldn't you know, this prof laid it all out for me nicely in an hour-long presentation. He's a pediatric MD, but his interests lie in research with policy goals relating to childhood immunizations....and he is interested in the societal influence on policy and health outcomes. The PhD path is crystal clear now. I set up a meeting to speak with him, and I have 3 other meetings set up regarding PhD stuff as well--all with very accomplished professors who could really guide me (and may have the much-needed funding!). I don't think I've been this excited about anything since, well...in months! The kind of excited where you think about the possibilities and you can't help but smile big. And all of this craziness is over the possibility of 3 more years of school--so you know this is good.

That kept me awake for most of the day. This afternoon I walked from SPH to downtown to the Registrar's office and realized that my (limited-run) bus didn't start service for another 45 minutes........so I walked all the way to the park and ride lot. Who needs a bus anyway?? It was (and still is) crazy-windy today--the type of wind that when it hits you sideways while you're walking your leg is pushed from the force and you end up tripping yourself. Yep, please tell me this happens to other people......... : )
It took me 40 minutes to walk to the west side of town and the wind resistence made for a great work out. I must say that I really enjoyed the walk.

Of course, as soon as I sat down to study for my biostats test tomorrow I was overcome with sleepiness. I got a good 4 hours of studying in before my eyes gave out on me and my brain froze. I think it is time to give up and just go to bed.

whoohoo!!

World travelers, take me with you!

Well, not so much "world" travelers, more like "far-off city" travelers. This week my dad is in San Francisco (one of my favorite cities) for a conference. He just called to say how nice the weather is and "what a great town". I'd really love to be there right now! I visited SF with Mike over Memorial Day weekend back in 2002 and just couldn't get enough of the city. We ate at the most amazing Chinese restaurant in Chinatown--it was a tiny dive on a side street, but the food was out of this world. We walked around the city forever, rode the trolley, took a ferry over to "The Rock", where Mike recounted his experience competing in the "Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon" (and I couldn't believe anyone would willingly get in that water to swim back to shore), we visited the original Ghirardelli Chocolate store, Golden Gate Park, and enjoyed even more amazing food in Little Italy. I think I took 4 rolls of film (no digital camera.....damn) during the trip.

I have a habit of buying a travel-guide book whenever I'm going to visit a new city. Not just any travel guide, either, it has to be the "Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide":


They have the best pictures and maps :). Before the trip I read through the travel guide and soak up all of the info, but I'm not a "by the book" type of girl when traveling--I usually keep things random and spontaneous, but this way at least I know what I'm looking at and have a general idea of what I want to see.

In other traveler news, Damon and Solomon are in Miami this week on "school business" ;). No, really, they are picking up some stuff to bring back to UM, but still, they're in Miami and may make a brief jaunt down to Key West. Ahhh, Key West :) The only place in the world where you can get frozen authentic key lime pie on a stick:


AND it's covered in dark chocolate. Talk about a tasty treat! I was there in late November 2001, which means the temperature was perfect and the massive hoards of tourists hadn't arrived yet. We enjoyed some great food (sense a theme?), took in a sunset cruise on a beautiful sailboat, and did some snorkeling at a coral reef, where I saw an octopus and some creepy barracuda (they actually do just "sit" in the water and watch you)......shiver.

To top it all off, my dad's girlfriend is in London on business.......I think these people are trying to torture me!

SO--anyone up for a trip?? I need to get back out there into "travel-land". I can provide the road trip music :)

What's He Saying?

My nephew was playing with some of his trucks this afternoon and amidst all of the "vroooommmm.....crash!" and high-pitched squeals Jess and I hear something that sounds like "Oh Crap". We focus our gaze on Josh and wait for it again....."Oh SNAP!". My nephew now says "Oh Snap". Huh. I must admit it was pretty funny. I certainly don't say that and I'm pretty sure Jess doesn't say that--the influence of day care, perhaps? I wonder what he'll come up with next (and please don't let it be "shit"....I've let that one slip a few times).

This weekend has been nice. Low key, yet still eventful. Caught up with a few friends and spent some quality time with others.

Yet, the pic below accurately portrays how I'm feeling at 11:40 on a sunday night. Must be the weather.

g'night.
Me at the Outer Banks, NC

An Enjoyable Time-Waster

My friend AJ sent me the link to the "Numa Numa" clip off of the Albino Blacksheep.com website (which is hilarious, by the way and anyone who has been in a club in the past few months has invariably witnessed the phenomenon where people dance to this song while trying to sing in Romanian--Solomon even referenced it in his blog! I wonder what the lyrics translate to...the joke could be on us) and I had to share the equally enjoyable time-waster below. I think it's pretty funny. And NO, it isn't a personal comment on my life. :)
Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me

Tidbits

I went for a nice run tonight before the sun set. It was 68 degrees outside and while I was lacking the energy to run, I couldn't help but enjoy the trail one last time before I get wussy and don't want to run in the cold (I'll move things indoors!). It is the same trail that I ran and biked this past summer and it seemed so different now that the trees have turned and leaves are on the ground. It made me sad. For those of you who don't know me, I definitely express the "sentimentality" gene found in most women. It seems to be lacking in my sister--definitely recessive. She gets pissed when I get sentimental. We balance each other out well :)

A fact: I'm drawn to creative people. When I encounter someone who has an affinity for creativity I can't help but be intrigued by them. I want to know what makes them tick and move and where they find inspiration. I want to understand their individuality. I love it when someone can say something that changes my perspective and challenges my perception. For instance, I ran into one of my favorite creative friends today at Amer's and had a conversation about his PhD interests and general goals for improving society :). Just by being who he is and representing his life experiences and insights he challenges my perceptions and makes me think. I love that! My hope is that I do the same for other people. I guess it's rather relative in that contributions I may make vary depending on the person's experiences and knowledge. All I can do is represent my thoughts and experiences honestly, right? RIGHT!

Song that's currently playing on my itunes: "U Can Look" by Jump, Little Children. (they're fun in concert!)
Song that's next on my itunes: "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice.
After that: "I Can't Wait" by The Sundays.
Then: "A Lack of Color" by Death Cab for Cutie.........

I could go on and on.....
goodnight!

Sign me up!

You know you're a Public Health nerd when you start jumping up and down when a PBS special on Global Health comes on TV. I read the program description and the moment unfolded like this:

"hmm.....Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge: the current challenges facing the world regarding night blindness, nutritional deficiencies (voice starts increasing in pitch and I start jumping up and down) HIV/AIDS and Avian Influenza??!!! AWESOME!!!".

My sister called me a "total dork" and left the room :)

What can I say? I'm a dork. But...a well informed dork! I further demonstrated my dorkiness by insisting that she watch it with me; her response was "no, it doesn't really interest me". I glared at her and was actually speechless for a few seconds. I really couldn't understand how it didn't interest her....it interested everyone, right?? I asked her a few times more just to check to see if she was pulling my leg--she got annoyed. I called my dad and told him that I finally understood why she is his second favorite. HA! His response was, "well, you've always been cut from a different log". I think that was a compliment.....
My dad had called me last night when I was stuck doing SAS work in the SPH computer lab at 10 pm (ugh) to let me know the Rx series was on and I had completely forgotten about it until I was flipping channels tonight looking for CSI. Needless to say, I didn't watch CSI (which happens to be one of my favorite shows).

The program (only one part of a multi-part series) was like a mini emotional rollercoaster; moments of elation, sadness, promise, hopelessness, admiration for my fellow human beings who put it all out there and risk EVERYTHING for public health progress. Yes! I am ready to go and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! :) As soon as I get my degree....

And, for those of you who haven't been paying attention to a little thing called Avian Influenza--it's really. scary. shit.

here's the link for more info:
Rx for Survival

Hee.

My sister felt compelled to hide Joshie's Halloween bucket from me.

I'm. Addicted. To. Chocolate.

But, in all honesty, I've only had 3 of the mini candybars over the past 2 days. That is not reason enough to hide it, is it??
:)

Boycott, Badness, and Beauty

The Boycott:
I love my Nestle's Crunch and hot chocolate, but now when I think about enjoying the chocolate-y goodness I'll see hundreds of thousands of dead babies in my mind. Morbid, right? Apparently, the Nestle Corporation is one of the major global players in the Infant Milk Substitute Market and their ethically-questionable marketing practices in developing countries has lead to a 20-country boycott of their products. The participants of the Nestle boycott accuse Nestle of not complying with the WHO's World Health Assembly Marketing Requirements and of unfairly marketing their infant formula to women in developing countries, advocating formula as the "modern" and convenient thing to do. The consequences of advocating infant formula versus breast feeding: hundreds of thousands of infant deaths from diarrheal diseases caused by contaminated water used to reconstitute the formula. Now, there are benefits to using formula in certain situations: mothers who are HIV/AIDS positive, infants who refuse to breast feed, mothers who are too malnourished to nurse.....definitely a case-by-case situation.
I had a mini-Baby Ruth chocolate bar this afternoon (courtesy of Josh's Halloween bucket)! If the accusations against Nestle are true, then I feel bad for enjoying their chocolate. Damn.

Here are two references so you can check out the facts:
Baby Milk Action Org
Nestle's page

The Badness:
So I know a guy who is in a long distance relationship. They have been seeing each other for only a short period of time, but he swears he thinks she's "the one". He says this, goes on and on about how excited he is about the relationship and it's insane how he feels about this girl......then invites a (different) girl over to hang out and make out!
WTF??
He's legitimately interested in having sex with this other girl. Now, call me crazy, but something just isn't right. How can he be so enamored with his girlfriend and still be physically interested in another girl, and more importantly, willing to act on that physical attraction? Is this the norm? Am I that naive? Is sex that removed from emotion? I just don't get it.

The Beauty:
It's November now and the trees are still full of color, the air is cool, and the sun is shining. Today's high is supposed to be 60 degrees! It won't last long....I really need to get out and take some pictures before the color is gone and the snow arrives. I'll post pics when I get around to it :)

Happy Halloween!

It's officially Halloween and I'm already in my pjs :). I think there was enough partying Friday and Saturday to do the holiday justice this year. Sunday was spent finishing up my poster for today's poster session--unfortunately that meant I was holed up in the basement of SPH II on an absolutely gorgeous fall day. Boo!

The poster session was rather anti-climactic. We spent weeks worrying about the poster session and hours preparing for it and it wasn't worth any of the stress! 2 hours of wondering around looking at other people's posters, 1 hour of standing in front of your own poster answering questions, then the poster is relegated to the back of a closet or tossed in the dumpster. Blech. I guess it is good practice....for something.....I'll let you know when I figure out what that something is. It WAS a good time to see friends and do some socializing.....and eat gigantic Halloween cookies :)

My Cheetara costume was a success! Although, one girl came up to me today and said--"wow, that was a really short skirt you were wearing at the party!" I was taken aback because I can't even imagine a skirt as short as the shorts I was wearing and I thought that was a funny comment for someone to make--I don't even know her! But I assured her that they were indeed shorts........I wonder how many other people thought I was wearing a skirt?
I digress.

More Halloween pics:

Steph and Me
Josh as Superman (with muscles)

Halloween is over and it isn't even here yet!

Very short post 'cause it's past my bedtime and anything I try to write now will be nonsense :)

Friday night: SNRE Halloween Party with lots of crazy (and I'm talking CRAZY) dancing. Fun times. I didn't even recognize Damon and Solomon when I saw them in their costumes. I went as Pippi Longstockings :)

Saturday: Great trip to Detroit to see the Rodin exhibit at the DIA courtesy of Kyle, who made art viewing a more interesting and fun experience. Dinner party with Steph, Matt and other great friends. Matt is an AMAZING cook and I'd be more than happy to come over for dinner more often, really, it isn't any trouble at all. Party time! Went out to Peter's party and had a blast. We arrived late, but it was still going strong and everyone was very creative with their costumes.

Time for pics:

SNRE Party: Katie, me, AJ, Hal, Damon
Peter as Edward Scissorhands and me
Solomon, Me, AJ
Hal, Solomon, Me
Solomon, AJ, Me, Damon

Midterms and.....porn??

Yes, that's right....porn! Today's topic in my Global Health class was the public health implications of breast feeding vs. formula in different cultural settings. To illustrate the general American perception of breasts and breast feeding our professor proceeded to show 4 overhead transparencies from the current issue of Playboy magazine. That's 4 pair of breasts....doing provocative things. I'm totally fine seeing breasts, as I have a pair and I see them regularly, but you could tell the class did a collective shift in their seats and the guys looked a little uncertain as to whether or not they should look at the overheads or stare at the floor for a minute or two. Our professor is unfazed by all of it and I love her for that--she's very "that's how it is" and I respect that....not just regarding breasts, either. She proceeds to say:

"no, now these are definitely fake--you can tell because of the globe-like appearance and, let me just say that a woman that skinny doesn't have huge breasts like that! Where's the transparency with the real breasts?....we searched the entire playboy and found one pair that we think are real."
I can safely say that that was an academic first for me.

Her point was this: in America breasts are categorized as sexual objects, not as motherly, nurturing objects. There is a negative social connotation associated with many things breast-related due largely to the over-sexualization of the female body by Playboy, Hustler, etc. This negative connotation carries over to activities that should be perceived as natural and innocent, such as breast feeding--particularly breast feeding in public places. People tend to be offended by the sight of a mother breast feeding her baby, regardless of whether or not breast is actually visible--how can such a beautifully natural thing be considered perverse and offensive??

I don't plan on sitting myself and my (sometime in the future) baby down in the middle of a crowded shopping mall for feeding time--I'd probably find an inconspicuous spot, but I'd hope that the people around me would respect my decision and look upon it as nuturing and not perverse.

Oh, yeah, and I'm done with midtems!! Whoo-hoo!

The Big Reveal!

My costume is now complete!
I'm gonna be a little cold, I fear. While my character wears a leotard in "real life" I couldn't find a red one so I had to improvise--I'm not wearing a leotard, but I am going to be wearing something that I believe preserves the essence of my character. It's a mystery, right?

Here's the big reveal:
My character kicks-ass (literally) and has the power to see the past and predict the future.....Who am I??

Cheetara!! The one and only Thundercats heroine
To complete my costume I found a cool pair of fake eye-lashes, glitter make-up and glitter hair spray, a pair of gold fishnet tights (I couldn't find a pair similar to Cheetara's) and a pair of black hot pants in lieu of the leotard. Hopefully people will recognize me as "Cheetara"--I think the Thundercats symbol on my shirt will help ;)

Now if I only knew a "Liono" or a "Panthra".....that'd be cool.

A Student.....FOREVER ?

Today I received an email from my high school friend Mark with an update on "the gang". It seems that I'm one of the last hold-outs in the marriage and career department: out of my 8 close guy-friends 5 are married, 2 are "heading in that direction" and one is doing his own thing; one couple is expecting their first child and 5 out of the 8 are living in far-off exotic places....well, San Diego, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Boston (way to go Matt on getting into Harvard Business school!!), and Seattle. Out of the 2 close girl-friends that I've kept in touch with, one is married (Katie, aka Best Friend) and one is engaged. In a weird way that makes me feel old and sorta out of place in that removed part of my life.....not because I'm (so) not feeling the need to get married and am quite happy doing my own thing, but because all of my high school friends are living adult lives, with houses and dogs and yards and full time occupations. I was once an "adult" under that definition, with a full time job and lots of free time. Currently, I'm craving some stability! I want a house, a yard, a dog, an occupation. I want to have wine and cheese parties and be a member of an art museum and voluteer at the Children's Hospital and put more energy into being creative and exercise 10 days a week and go to kick-ass concerts and see amazing movies. Oh, yes, I could do all of that now, but school is the priority and I'm fucking broke! Free time and money is what I need :) But....at the same time I'm not quite ready to leave the educational environment. Damn, it's a double edged sword, isn't it? Go back to the working world and do all the things that I currently want to do, or stay in academia and lay the foundation for a more successfull career that could enable me to accomplish more of the things that I want to accomplish in the long run? I need a job that allows me to work while going to school......hmmmm.....maybe I should just get a GSI position or something.

My solution in 2-steps:
1) Stop bitching. I'm in control of my life. It's all give and take.
2) Be more productive when I can so I'm able to do more of the things that I'd like to do, while creatively coming up with cheap ways to do them.........dollar movie, anyone? Actually, they're $1.50 after 6pm--dollar movie my ass! ;)

PS: while it may seem that I'm unhappy with my current circumstances, I assure you that I'm having an amazing time being a student, living in Ann Arbor, and grateful for the people in my life. The above rant is probably due to grumpiness brought on by midterm stress. Love ya!
I LOVE GRAD SCHOOL!

State of (my) Mind: Part II

Random stuff about me:

-Song that is currently stuck in my head: "Homeward" by The Sundays (check out their album "Static and Silence")
-Best friend in the whole world: Katie Crowe (aka Dillon)
-Favorite "don't tell anyone I like this song" song: "Gold Digger" by Kanye West. Can't help but move to it.
-How many times I've had my heart broken (the legitimate "can't-get-over-it-for-months and can't listen to particular songs for fear of losing it" type): 3
-How many times I've broken someone's heart: 2
-Favorite pet: my dog "Jack", who tragically ran away while I was out of town. I should count that as one more heartbreak....
-Favorite food: anything ethnic: sushi, indian, thai, japanese, mexican, ethiopian....
-Thing I miss most about Atlanta: Mike
-Best concert I've ever been to: either Radiohead or Coldplay.....although, The Cure was pretty good as well
-How many times I've been skinny dipping: zero (it'll happen one day)
-My biggest secret(s) right now: 1) I have a completely innocent crush on a guy who's definitely taken, 2) I'm still not over the last guy who broke my heart (but I'm not letting it get in the way)
-My biggest fear: losing someone I love
-Biggest regret: letting go of a dear friend when he needed me the most
-Dream vacation: backpacking through Europe (so cliche)
-Best vacation: cross country road trip from Atlanta to Wisconsin to Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon back to Atlanta. Or, Atlanta to Yellowstone to Seattle to Sacramento (via Hwy 101) to Salt Lake City to Atlanta.
-Favorite comic strip: "Get Fuzzy"
-Place I'd like to go after I graduate: Good question!! Ann Arbor, Chicago, DC....? who knows
-Best "relax and unwind music": David Gray, The Sundays, classic Ella Fitzgerald, and many, many more
-Favorite comfy-clothes: scrub pants and a t-shirt
-What I like the most about my sister: her (blunt) honesty...she doesn't beat around the bush and I need that sometimes
-What song I'm listening to right now: "C'mere" by Interpol
-What makes me absolutely, completely happy: my nephew Josh
-How I'll change the world: solving the problem of availability of simple medical treatments in underserved populations
-What I want to learn how to do (or become better at): tons of things! photography, glass blowing, stained glass, sewing, painting....how to manage time more efficiently :)
-How I resemble my parents: I have my dad's appreciation of the arts and culture; I have my mom's compassion for other people (not to say that either lacks the other's trait)
-Scariest "I can't believe I just did that" experience: crawling through a drainage pipe and up a very tall ladder to get to a platform in the middle of a reservoir
-Biggest change in the past year: new perspective on my strengths and understanding my weaknesses
-The song that stops me in my tracks: "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" by Jeff Buckley:
"Broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it.......
It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon the shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smile when I slept so soft against her
It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over, she's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever"
-What I should be doing right now: STUDYING!!

I told you it was random..... :)

State of (my) Mind

It all hit me this week and hit me hard. Time is going by way too fast and I'll be looking for a job and applying to the PhD program before I know it....well, I guess I should be doing that RIGHT NOW, but I have other things on my mind. It's all about prioritizing. This week is packed with things to do and I'm actually feeling stressed for the first time this semester. It's hard enough with the impending time change and the arrival of the eternal darkness of the "Michigan Winter", but I haven't been out to exercise in over a week and I'm definitely feeling the repercussions--both mentally and physically. As one friend put it "I'm starting to feel my body morph into its winter form"....well, it isn't that bad....yet. All things considered, I'm doing well and am adjusting my routine to the new weather and academic demands. For instance, I went to bed at 9:30 last friday night and didn't stir until 8 am saturday! It was some of the most peacefull sleep I've had in a while. Instead of choosing to watch the UM football game at Solomon and Damon's house, I stayed at home and studied with the tv on mute--I know, it wasn't the most productive study session I've had, but I did still absorb some Public Health Policy. I then rewarded myself with a trip to BW3 to join the boys and my friend Julia before heading out to the "Sweater and Cider" party. Check out the pics below. The cider was hot (and had quite a kick to it) and the bonfire was very welcoming on the cold night. It ended up being another late night, but probably the most fun I've had in a few weeks.
In other news, I've finally decided on my Halloween costume! I'm still not divulging any info, but pics will be up at some point. I just need to figure out how to stay warm while wearing my costume........
Looks like the party (or one of the parties) I'll be going to will be a totally crazy experience--at least people who went last year say that it was incredible. By that point I'll be finished with all of my midterms and my poster will (hopefully) be done and ready for monday's poster session, so a good time is most definitely in order!
Alright, my laundry is done and I gotta get back to work so I'll leave you with some pics.

Out at BW3: Hal, Sol, Me, Julia

Sweater and Cider party: Chris, Me, Erin, Sol, Kara, Drew

2 down, 2 to go

I took my Global Health: Anthropological Perspectives midterm yesterday and for not having studied except during biostats the hour before the exam, I think I did rather well. I didn't set out not to study for the test. I did study some the night before, but the material is rather non-study-able....if that's a word. You either know it or you don't. So Wednesday night after studying for a bit I went and played trivia at BW3; a challenge had been issued and I went with intentions of dominating team Bowfin, consisting of Damon, James and Solomon (they are too confident in their abilities)......and my team lost.....too bad I was the one who threw the challenge out there :) Oops. Now, the Bowfin trivia team IS NOT the same team Bowfin that dominates at flip cup:

Flip cup Team Bowfin
So I guess this gives Solomon bragging rights for a while. He is a rather smart guy, for being into fishes. ;)

This past week was eventful and not necessarily in a good way, either. I let one of my closest friends in the world down...although he'd never, ever say so, I did a lot of sleeping, not enough studying, no exercising, I made a big mistake, I figured out a thing or two about a guy or two, but I also learned more about myself--so that can't be bad.

It is now friday night and I'm really, really excited about the chinese food on its way here and the wine that's going to accompany the meal. Friday nights are usually my "relax and unwind from the week" night. This summer my sister and I had a once a month ritual where we'd either make margaritas or open a bottle of wine, while crazy-dancing around the living room. The music selection was always unpredictable, Josh was permitted to dance on the living room table, and we all had a fabulous end-of-the-week-let-loose-and-go-crazy time. I miss summer! It was a wonderful, life-exploring experience.

Back to reality: I have 2 more mid-terms coming up this week, I have to submit the topic of my Social Epi final paper to Dr. Kaplan for approval, my epidemiology poster session next monday, a trip to Detroit to visit Kyle and the new DIA exhibit, and all of the Halloween festivities next weekend. Time is flying by.......

ok, try it now.

My friend Steph pointed out that you can't post comments to the blog if you don't have a sign-in. That has now changed! Please feel free to put your comments down (please be nice) and the word-verification feature has been activated. Note: if I get tons of "comment spam" then it's going back to the registered users setting!
And 1 comment from my most recent post that was deleted was indeed spam: "Hey, I checked out your blog and I'm definitely bookmarking it. Try Cialis, you can order it by......".
Like we don't get enough of that through UM mail :)

They're both Jim Henson creations....

In response to Solomon's comment about my last post: oh, no doubt the Muppets rock, but who wants to be "Miss Piggy" for Halloween? (at least I don't)--Janice is more like it. Fraggle Rock was a Jim Henson creation as well, and "Red" would be an easy costume to put together, with the added bonus of people trying to guess who I am all night.....but she's currently ranked down at the bottom of my list of Halloween costume options.
On another note: looking at the Muppetcentral.com website I noticed that "Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas" is coming out on special edition DVD. Damn it! I bought a non-special edition of "Emmet" 2 years ago in attempt to rekindle that Christmas feeling from my childhood (which worked!).....I always loved the song Ma and Emmet sing at the end. My sister and family (grandpa, grandma and dad included) didn't get the same warm fuzzy feeling when I sat all of us down to watch it at Christmas time. They just don't get it. :)

A fun quote from today's Public Health Policy class provided by Dr. Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program for the New America Foundation:
"If it [policy issue] makes it into the newspaper it's regarded as truth, or at least it then has to be dealt with. Newspapers are read in Washington not out of enjoyment or interest, but out of fear of what policy issue needs to be addressed next". Bottom line: when working for a policy think tank, the press is your friend.

Later :)

Classic 80's or Campy 70's?

I've been thinking about my Halloween costume since last June. The impetus behind the early contemplation is my sucky costume last year. I basically raided my closet at the last minute and came up with the following: a grey pleated mini-skirt, white button down shirt, a borrowed neck tie, black boots and some fishnets. Yep, I was a "School Girl", some might say a "Naughty School Girl". I was also called "Britney" and "Avril" that night....but that wasn't my intention. I vowed never to raid my closet again in search of a Halloween costume. Yuck. I wanted to be creative and make my costume.....as in buy fabric and sew it myself.....but I haven't had the time and couldn't decide on one costume. I was going to be a Lion Tamer at one point (it was a really cute idea, complete with a lion and a chair), then it transformed into a circus ring master, then nothing at all. So now I'm stuck deciding between being one of the "Village People" with some of my friends and one of several 80's cartoon characters. Hmmm.....I just don't know. AND starting the process back in June didn't help any--I'm 2 weeks away from Halloween and don't have a costume!

It would be nice if I was 3 again. My mom made me some classic costumes: Peter Pan with the biggest curly-toed shoes EVER (adorable), a bunny rabbit (precious), Rainbow Brite (with 3 of her Sprites, courtesy of the neighbor kids), Pipi Longstockings (she even had my hair braided around coat hangers so they'd stick out to the side). My mom rocked in the costume department. Too bad she's all the way across the country...I know she'd help me out in an instant.

I'm actually thinking of revisiting my kindergarten costume (once again, made by mom), only bigger. I was "Wonder Woman" for kindergarten in Wisconsin. I remember I was so upset when I went to use the bathroom and one of Wonder Woman's silver bullet-shielding cuffs my mom had made out of cardboard and aluminum foil accidentally fell in the toilet. Oops. Even as a 4-year old I realized I couldn't pull it out and put it back on my wrist. Wonder Woman could work......Then there's a choice between 2 of my favorite cartoons growing up: "The Thundercats" and "She-ra"......or my favorite puppet show: "Fraggle Rock"--that would be less obvious, definitely. Shit, I may just go to the store and see what they have in the "prepackaged" department. How unoriginal.

The final decision will remain a surprise until I either:
a) let it slip before Halloween
b) see you out on Halloween
c) post pics after Halloween

Here's a pic of Josh in his costume last year:

Josh as a Giraffe

Procrastination : )

Fall break is nice. A lot of us start out with perfect intentions to take total advantage of the time to catch up and prepare for midterms. And yet I'm on the sofa, still in my pjs, with my computer.....it's great :)
Since I'm trying to stay on track, I thought I'd post a few pics of me and my family and leave it at that. Enjoy!
My dad and (a younger) Joshie
Me and Jess
Me and mom

Yes, I have beat "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" PS2 game

I was all set to get ready for bed, make some tea, and write in my blog a little when I just had to check what was on tv.....now that we have digital cable I'm more prone to do the following: "I'm just checking what's on tv....just to see what's on....it'll only take a minute....oh, that's cool--the deadliest insects in the world, maybe I could watch for a minute or two.......oooohh...huh, I never knew that". The tv was on already so I sat down while my tea was seeping and picked up the remote. That was my first mistake. I couldn't resist halting the channel flipping at "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"--great movie! And it just so happened that it was at the part when Aragorn goes to find the King of the Dead, or whatever, which also happens to be the start of the PS2 game. I'm proud to say that I successfully beat the game and yes, I am a girl. Ah, memories. Now, I bet you're wondering how that came about....? The game was, in my ex's opinion, a way for us to bond and spend some time together while still being able to get his game fix. I didn't mind, really--I thought it was kinda sweet (albeit, an accurate indication of the level of maturity I was to expect from him during the relationship) AND he even let me pick out the game. All in all I had a good time. And just for the record, shire folk aren't a burden in battle--I kicked ass as a hobbit.

Here they come!

The weekend recap: Went with some friends to see "Elizabethtown" friday night.....I'm a Orlando Bloom fan.....and while the soundtrack was surprisingly good, I wasn't quite feeling the movie. The story line was ok, but some things were just too random and downright ridiculous. And Kirsten Dunst got on my nerves, she was way too stalker-esque.

Saturday started off early with a trip to Starbucks before heading to the SNRE tailgate at the golf course. A well-known fact: hard-core fans combined with tailgates produce a lot of obnoxious people....drunk, obnoxious people. Ugh....Frodo was just impaled by the spider....anyway, drunk people. Yes. There was a Penn State fan in a Penn State mascot outfit doing keg stands-he kept losing his tail- there were lots of drunken chants and cheers, etc., funny how none of this enticed me into having more than one beer...you'd figure I'd want to join in on all of the fun ;). At the game I spent more time paying attention to the drunk guy behind me than to the game. During the course of the game I was hit hard in the face, pushed around, spit on, used as a head rest, and served as a mediator between the guys in front of me and the guy behind me (they weren't too happy with drunk-guy). Now, as bad as it sounds, drunk-guy didn't do any of the above things intentionally and he did apologize for all of it, but still...c'mon.

Erin, Julia and I enjoy the victory
Hal keeps things lively
My other friends around me kept things fun (AJ's boyfriend Hal entertained us-see pic above) and the waiting around (even though I really wanted to leave) was worth it to be able to see the last second of the game. Beautiful! Hal, AJ, Julia, Drew, Damon, Solomon, Erin, James, Christy and I all met up at BW3 for some wings, beer, and general good times. It was a late night and some things didn't turn out too well, but I made it home safely and slept in sunday morning!

I love Sundays. Sunday was perfect. After doing my household duties and putting away the clean laundry from last week......Huh, you kinda feel sorry for the big elephants in "Return of the King" when they start going down on the battlefield, maybe they were just doing their duty as a domesticated elephant, maybe they didn't have a choice in whether or not they trampled the good guys or stormed the castle......I went for a drive with Jess and Josh to see the Michigan fall colors. It was a beautiful day and the drive was invigorating. We went through Dexter and headed up to Halfmoon Beach by Pickney recreational area. I had been there last June to cheer on a friend competing in a triathlon and the trees around the lake have been transformed from a lush green into reds, yellows, and golds. On the way back to town we stopped at a farm for some fresh pumpkin doughnuts and a pony ride (no, I didn't ride a pony).

Halfmoon beach
A cowboy in the making :)
Sunday night was a special treat. I got together with some good friends for a night of fine wine, excellent cheese, and leftover pumpkin doughnuts :). My friends Meredith and Alex invited me and three of our other friends over for a relaxing time and casual conversation. It was a very, very nice change from the recent BW3 and Charley's get togethers. I'm all about a good bottle of wine, friends, and a movie :)

So I succeeded in keeping my weekend low key, well, as low key as a Michigan football weekend CAN be. I'm feeling good and set to tackle some serious studying for midterms. Winter is around the corner and I'm ready for fluffy sweaters, my warm boots and comfy jacket.

Hmm...maybe macs ARE inferior...NEVER!

I'm currently on a pc computer at work (I own a mac and LOVE it--for other reasons besides that it's BEAUTIFUL and fun to use) and the pc has all of these options in the blog "create post" page....font options, a "insert link" button,....my mac doesn't display those options. Hmmm....
Solomon is going to be thrilled that I admitted to a mac weakness.

So last night was fun. 12 or so of us gathered at Julia's house and sat around being silly and saying inappropriate things like "what color is your back hair?" (I wasn't involved in that one). I was super sleepy so I opted out of the trip to Rick's bar and let everyone else enjoy the "frat party gone bad" atmosphere of Rick's. Although, I've heard that their fishbowl drinks are pretty tasty (and potent). I did go check out Law School Bowling Nite for a half hour or so, mainly to see my friend Steph and catch up with her. But, of course if you go to a place where everyone's been drinking all night and you add to the mix an ex-boyfriend.....there is potential for trouble. We actually didn't interact at all except for him stumbling up to me and asking if I was going out afterwards, standing way too close and swaying back and forth while precariously holding a bowling ball over my feet. This is after a nasty email exchange earlier this week, so you can see why I was nervous. For the record, he got nasty, I just defended myself :)

Earlier today I commented to a friend that it is difficult to talk about specific people in a blog because they might read it....and if the comments are not necessarily positive ones or the story doesn't portray the person in a positive light, well, then that's not good for the relationship, now is it? SO, my answer to that is: Code Names!! Some people may be able to figure out through association who's who, or realize "hey--Janine's talking about "Meg" and their conversation over coffee today and I had coffee with Janine today--SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ME!!", but hopefully no one takes offense to any comments I may make in future posts. If you do: sorry and love ya!....they're just my thoughts and who says I'm right?

On another note..........
The lesson of the day: While I have known this fact for quite some time, it took an emotionally difficult situation in recent months to really UNDERSTAND it: If someone wants to spend time with you, they spend time with you. Period. It is as simple as that. Now, there are extenuating circumstances that may come into play from time to time, but for the most part if you and that guy you are interested in just aren't communicating--he's just not that into you. And frankly, life is too short!
There you go.
(and just so there isn't any confusion, the comments above do not refer to law school ex-boyfriend :) ).

Happy trails!

Let fall break begin!

Me and Jess on a VERY, VERY long roadtrip
Unfortunately, for me fall break is going to consist of LOTS and LOTS of reading. I'm not complaining, it's nice to have a few days off to catch up with work before midterms start. I just wish my break was going to be as exciting as some other people's breaks: Spain, Seattle....I'm sure people are going to other cool places that I haven't mentioned.

THE EXCITING NEWS OF THE DAY: My nephew (see pic below) now officially has my family's last name! My sister went to court this afternoon to legalize his name change and the fam is super excited.

Even though I'm exhausted from my biostats test this afternoon I'm heading out to a house party and maybe going to a bar or two with my equally-drained SPH friends.....at least we can all commiserate together. This weekend will DEFINITELY be more laid back than last weekend.....3 parties last friday night alone, the football game, BW3s, then drinks at Rush St. saturday, and then studying all day sunday. This weekend will go more like: friday = low key, saturday = football game, then low key, sunday = who knows. I'm hoping to connect with a particular person or two, so we'll see how that goes :)

Josh with his duck-floaty