Like a flu shot, eh?

I went and saw [one of] my orthopedic specials today for my shoulder. I ended up being there for about 3 hours. Not that I saw anyone for about two hours, but I caught up on my Texas Monthly magazine reading (woot). X-rays showed nothing, which didn't surprise me at all, but the PA and Dr. M think there might have been some swelling in the Bursa sac which was causing the popping/grinding and all around annoyance.

Word to the wise (or unwise, however it may be), if a doctor recommends a shot to one of your joints and compares it to a flu shot, do not believe them. Dr. M pulled this move on me last year when he tried to drain fluid from my shoulder. He made me cry. And I called him a liar. So today, when he suggested an injection and I asked how much it was going to hurt, and he responded that it was comparable to a flu shot, I didn't believe him. However, I agreed to the injection because I'll try anything for relief at this point. But when he came back after the nurse had set up the stuff and told me that I should remember this from last year when he tried to drain my shoulder, I completely called his bluff and named him a liar. He laughed and asked me if he had just told me the same thing as last year, laughed again, and then proceeded to numb my shoulder and jam a four inch needle deep into my shoulder joint. Fun!

Not. So. Much. But already I can tell a difference and hopefully it will fix the problem.

Also, did anyone else watch the Bones marathon yesterday? I think it's one of my new favorite shows. Sealy and Temperance are the best.

Type rest of the post here

Thank you Dr. Steinman!

CAKE UPDATE:
The cake, IMHO, was delicious. It actually tasted like a really good sugar cookie with champagne flavored icing. Will definitely be making again!
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Let the Waiting Game begin!

I like and dislike the end of a semester. I think the 'likes' are obvious: no more school for three weeks; I can sleep in until whenever; I have the time to read whatever I choose. Just a bunch of little freedoms that make me quite happy for about four days and then I'm bored because I don't have anywhere to go and everyone I know is working.

The 'dislikes' should be pretty easy to guess too: no more classes to meet people; no new challenges; I become bored far too easily. But there's one more: the Waiting Game for grades. I try to limit myself to checking only twice a day: Once in the morning and once at night.

So far it's looking like a B semester. Which oddly enough, is what I expected. I didn't put too much in this semester and I'm reaping what I sowed. With the exception of Nutrition. I say this in complete truth, I should have failed that class. I calculated my grade last week and knew that at the very most I could expect a D. It's not that this class was overly difficult. I should have failed this class because it was 98% memorization, and I can not remember anything for beans. Or if, by some miracle, I manage to memorize something one day, the next day when I try to recall it, I've mixed it up completely and all of the associations I trained myself to remember are very disassociated. Top it off with total test anxiety and perhaps you will see my predicament. Can't. Succeed.

But friends, somehow, somewhere my nutrition professor managed to find enough points to give me a C. And I just have to say that I'm fairly flabbergasted. I know what my grades were. There's no way I earned a C. Maybe she checked the rest of my grades, saw that I was an English major with no future in medicine or nutrition and she felt like she could give me a C. I have no idea. But I am grateful that my GPA is not going to take the hit that I had originally expected. So, thank you, Dr. Steinman. I will think of you fondly as I sell my book back to the bookstore.

Also, I made a pink champagne cake yesterday from this magazine. I haven't tried it yet since it's for bible study tonight, but the batter was really quite tasty. It's pretty labor intensive though. I only read the first few lines of instructions and the ingredients list. I probably would have chosen something else had I realized, but it was worth the experience.

Off to ride my (stationary) bicycle.

Overhaulin' the Blog

Goodness, click below

Woo! See that link action? I just spent over an hour trying to figure out how to change the html to allow me to do that. Also, I changed my blog design, which took a while (do you know how long it takes to look through all of the millions of templates out there?). All in all I've been sitting on the couch working on my blog for the last two hours at least (including previous long post).

I don't feel like I've done much today, but I have, Blogland, I have. Stop judging me.

Also, guilty pleasure starts tomorrow: the Bachelorette! Check out this blog: ihategreenbeans.com to read her recaps/commentary on the show. It's what got me started on the show in the first place. Usually pretty funny, sometimes a little harsh, but worthwhile nonetheless.

High Praise from a Harsh Critic

I'm fairly obsessive about writing well thought out and well-written essays. This last semester has been particularly hard for me for two reasons.

A: My Shakespeare professor really values proper writing skills and beautifully written papers. One of his main goals is to improve students' writing while they are in his class. And friends, he is not afraid to give feed back and criticisms. (Plus he's British so sometimes his biting comments really sting.)

B: Each paper we've written has had to have two drafts. Both of which we email to him and he emails back marked up with his comments and revisions. This hurt my pride. So much so that after the first paper I would begin to hyperventilate anytime I saw that he had emailed a paper back to me. Waiting for Word to load so that I could scroll down to the bottom and read his comments before scrolling through the paper and looking at all of the inserted comments was pure hell, I tell you. My roommate will attest to this.

So this afternoon after church I checked my email and saw that my final paper (which was only a one draft paper) was sitting in my inbox. I was nearly sick. I have wanted to vomit every time I've seen his email with my paper attached, but this time I was really worried. So I started freaking out, roommate started laughing, and I waited while Word opened.

Friends, today is a glorious day! My adrenaline actually started rushing when I read his comments. I may even copy and paste my whole paper because I am that overjoyed. These were his final remarks about my paper:


Emily: a dynamite paper in terms of subject matter, use of sources, and clarity of style: journalistic in absolutely the best sense of the term. I could have perhaps done with – and would have enjoyed reading – some kind of response to the jingoistic use of Shakespeare from his own words that so often work against rabid nationalism, but this does not take away from your achievement of producing a fine and finely nuanced piece of work. Well done indeed: A.


Holla! I will live off this little bit of praise for the next several days while I figure out what jingoistic means.

It's like a vacuum

This dialogue just happened while I was making dinner and thinking about nothing:

"Dear Brain,
Please start paying attention to what we're reading. We get tired of reading the same thing 4 dozen times because you're not comprehending the words on the page.

Sincerely,
Eyes

p.s. If you could make a conscious effort to stop clenching Jaw, I think we'd all be a lot happier..."


"Dear Eyes,

Shut it! I can't help it if I don't understand glycolysis or can't memorize the essential amino acids or what the heck thiamin and niacin are for. Also, it would help if you would stop glazing over while I'm trying to focus on the page.

Love,
Brain"



Aw, love little insights into the inner workings of Self. It's so happy in here.

Childhood

So it turns out that whenever I am uber stressed I start singing random songs from my childhood.

Examples:
Alouette
She'll be coming Around the Mountain
Cuckabura Sits in the Old Gum Tree
3 different songs from Sound of Music
It Ain't Gonna Rain No More
...and some others that I have currently forgotten


I would love to blink and then open my eyes and POOF! It's Friday and I'm on my way home for Mother's Day/Mom's Birthday weekend and we're about to go watch Star Trek.

*le sighe*

Soon enough it will all be over.

Things left to do:

Russian History Final - Thursday
Shakespeare Research Paper - due Friday
Nutrition Exam - Friday
Nutrition Final - Wednesday 13 May
Folklore Final - Thursday 14 May
French Final - Tuesday 18 May

Summer session starts 4 June.