day.two.

Fantastic day. Fantastic. It was my first day in pedi-radiology, and i love it. I want to work in the radiology dept after graduation. Part of the reason i love it so much is because a majority of the job is preparation based (as opposed to other areas that may be more play based). You talk to kids about what's going to happen, and give them other material- photos, medical equipment, dolls, etc- that helps you demonstrate what they'll experience. The day started with a young child who needed an mri. After that was a vcug, and towards the end of the day was a barium enema. I won't go into the details, but it was good stuff. Not only do i love watching how the child life specialist is able to prep, distract and reassure children (thus allowing a 4yr old to stay awake and still for a 45 min mri rather than needing to be sedated), but the medical part absolutely fascinates me. Watching computer images from the mri as they are taken, seeing xrays of the large intestines as the barium made it visible- it was great. Even if my feet and legs are so tired from running around all over the place for the whole day! Maybe i should have been a doctor.

first.day.

Yesterday was my first internship day. Last night i slept for almost 10 hours. I was tired. I even slept a full 8 hours monday night (before my first day) but the mere act of getting up at 7am started me off on the tired side. Despite being tired, my day was great! It started off meeting with my two supervisors and reviewing info and expectations. Next was pet therapy- a little dog came to visit patients. Then i zipped up to occupational health for four shots- a tb test, the flu shot, tdap, and hep b (the first in the series). My arms are sore today. We caught the inauguration, then off to a meeting with a child psychiatrist to discuss patients for an hour. From there i had an hour break for lunch, and finished up reviewing diagnoses and tests. Shirl was at mgh earlier, and was nice enough to spend two hours on charles street so we could meet for drinks at bin 26. Rob met us an hour later and we had a tasty dinner. So fun!

my.date.with.myself.

Yesterday was the boston youth symphony orchestra's performance of figaro at harvard's sanders theater. Initially my mom was going to be my date, but the big snow storm (what? snow in boston?) made driving in, or even to the commuter rail, impossible. So i called a bunch of people and e-mailed a few more, but everyone was busy or with similar driving issues. Since i love classical music, i figured i'd go by myself, and i'm really glad i did. After an hour long bus and T ride over there, i got all cozy in my two sixth row seats and heard the story of figaro- one i wasn't familiar with. The kids were fantastic, and accompanied the opera singers beautifully. They even had translations so you could follow along with what they were singing. After the three and a half hour performance, i treated myself to wine, dinner and dessert at finale. I had a gift certificate so completely enjoyed the free meal. I've never been one to shy away from going to a movie or dinner by myself, but often don't have the opportunity. It was nice to sit quietly and enjoy the music and meal without having another person to distract me. Maybe i'll start doing this more often.

school.update.

I love my classes! The intensive one- bereavement care- will be more than halfway through by saturday evening, though i'll still have two big research papers to write. The other two, clinical issues in child life programs and a seminar course which goes along with the internship, will continue every wednesday from 4-9 until april 29th. I'm definitely more excited about this semester. Not only will i get first hand experience during my 400 hour internship, but the classes seem like ones i'll learn a lot from, and will have fun doing so. The part that's not fun is ordering and paying for all the required books. Instead of ordering them straight from the child life council website, i spent some time checking libraries, half.com, and amazon. I managed to borrow five from the library, and bought five others for big discounts through various online sites. My biggest deal? A $25 book for $0.97 (plus $3.99 shipping). I'll have to get three more for the membership price through c.l.c. but that's still a decent discount off non-member prices. Hopefully they'll all get here fairly quickly!

back.to.school.

Classes start tomorrow, and it's about time. Breaks are nice, but the lack of school work made me lazy. I didn't get anything done since i had so much more time to do it. It was easier to put off until later. First up is a five meeting course with my favorite teacher. It's tuesday and friday nights from 5-9:30, all day saturday, and the following friday and saturday. A lot at once, but it's a good way to chop up a 3 credit course and have it done with. Wednesday my regular two courses start (4-9:15) and i'll begin my internship at mgh on the 20th. I'll be on the pediatric inpatient floor two days a week and in radiology the other two days. (Weds are off due to classes.) I'm nervous, but excited. It will be good to actually do what i'll be doing when i graduate. Granted, with an advisor or two, but practice none-the-less. Will update everyone once things get started.

scary.

I haven't been to the dentist in forever. The last time i went, he told me i had three fillings that were separating from the tooth, and that i'd need crowns (which run about $1200 each). Ouch. So i avoided the dentist and decided to recommit myself to my fanatic brushing/flossing/mouthwash routine in hopes that my teeth would hold out a while longer. I got quite good at avoiding the dentist. At first i told myself it was because i didn't have dental insurance, but i picked that up in september and it wasn't until today, four months later, that i actually sucked it up and made an appointment. Thursday's the day. I'm absolutely terrified. I think that my new plan should be to marry a dentist. Their hours aren't crazy, they make a decent salary, and i wouldn't be able to put off appointments any more. Anyone know a cute single dentist who's under the age of 36 or so?

happy.birthday.jess!

Today is jessica's birthday, and last night she had a bunch of people meet up at drink, a newish bar on congress street. I was on the fence about going, but portia had taken the night off, so we decided to T it together. When snow was predicted and other boys were coming, her husband ed offered to drive down. We hadn't told jess we were coming, so surprised her when we showed up a little before 10. We all sang her happy birthday at midnight, and then trekked through the snow back to the car. So fun!!

laura.jessica.me.portia.

movies.and.glasses.

Last night i saw slumdog millionaire. Yes, it was as good as everyone says it is. Yes, you should go see it now if you haven't yet. It was playing at coolidge corner at 3:30 and 9:55. I couldn't rally to make the earlier one, but convinced eva to go with me to the later one. She had class until 9:30, so i'd leave at 9:10, pick her up on the way, and make it with time to spare. At 9pm, i checked in on facebook. My friend angela was on, so i im-ed her to say a quick hi. I've known her for 11 years, and though i don't see her often anymore, we've stuck with our once a year oscar party. This february will be year 11. It's tradition now, but it's also a fail-safe way to see each other at least once a year. I mentioned that i was leaving to see slumdog millionaire, and she mentioned that she wanted to see it too, so i picked her up along the way!
I somehow started talking about my wine glasses i found for my cocktail party. Most of you have seen them (and have had a drink out of them by now), but for those of you who haven't, here's the story. I wanted to have real glasses (as opposed to plastic) at my party, and was considering renting them. On a whim (after hearing portia and shirl talk about it) i stopped by the christmas tree shop to see if they had anything promising. As it turned out, they had a special shipment of speigelau glasses for $1.99 each. I happened to have a coupon for 20% off the total, so after going to three different cts, i scored 33 glasses for $1.60 each- cheaper than i could have rented them for. And they're not just regular thick-rimmed glasses. Because i've been spoiled by drinking great wine out of fancy glasses, i now have trouble enjoying anything from a non-crystal glass (crystal glasses have thin, even rims, and glass glasses have thicker, less even rims). So these babies are nice crystal with fantastic rims and a great ring. I love them.

who.said.30.was.too.old.for.sleepovers?

I had some company wednesday night. Portia and shirl trekked over in the snow to cook fish with me. On the menu? Tilapia with a garlic curry rub, roasted pepper salsa to top it off, and a side of asparagus. Dessert was brownie/peppermint ice cream sundaes.

This all came about a few weeks ago when i mentioned that i was scared to cook fish, and someone suggested we add cooking to our planned sleepover. It's funny. I'm great with soup- can make anything following the recipe or improvising- i've never been intimidated by it. Fish though, probably because i was never a huge fan of it, has always been a little scary. So they came to help and it turned out great! We even had a good breakfast in the morning. Portia made the blueberry muffins i missed out on last time! Next is shirl's turn. We're making homemade pasta and some sort of sauce- can't remember what kind right now.

presents!

As we all know, i have an obsession with orla kiely bags. It's been the case for many years now, and i've built up quite the collection. However, i've recently realized that the reason i love her stuff (great colorful patterns, laminated canvas which is easy to wipe clean, etc), is also the reason i have issues when it comes to "going out" bags. When the need arises for a small clutch (weddings, bar nights, etc), i'm out of luck. I either use a favorite red/pink flowered number, or shove my license, cash and a credit card in a pocket somewhere. It became apparent that i needed to pick up a neutral brown or black clutch.
During one of our haymarket trips, our waitress at mike's commented on my wallet (which is...surprise, surprise...orla kiely). She told me about a store around the corner, shake the tree, which sells orla stuff, so saturday morning we zipped in. I love this place. Not only did she have orla bags, but also great housey stuff, some clothes, jewelry, perfume, and a bunch of beautiful leather bags. After my second loop in the store, i saw it....the most beautifully perfect clutch ever.

It managed to be neutral, but with personality. I was in love (especially with the four fun finger holes!). As it so happened, my grandmother had sent me a check for christmas. While the sensible thing may have been to put it in savings (since my income for the next six months will be $0), i wanted to get something special with it so i would think of her when i used it. Until i saw this clutch, the runner up was a le creuset pot. Not the case any longer. I'm now the proud owner of this new favorite. Thanks grandma!
I knew the black one would serve me well for years to come, but thought that my next purchase in the bag department would be a brown clutch. Then i'd have all my bases covered. As luck would have it, i opened this christmas present from my friend cindy tonight...

How creepy is that!!! She's always been a great gift giver, but this was almost eerie. It's another perfectly me bag. It's kind of olivey/brown, and the top part folds over and is held closed with two hidden magnets. Now i'm going to have to go out more to use these new members of my little family! Here they are together- the brown one closed and the black's strap tucked in.