Need Some Drugs?

I started my preceptorship this week, I'm following around a family medicine doctor. He told me some specifics about how he writes his prescriptions so that the pharmacist knows they are from him and he told me a funny story:

One day he got a call from the Emergency Room.  They said that a patient was trying to fill a prescription from him (the family doctor) but the ER staff were pretty confident that it was forgery. As the doctor was telling me this story he wrote something on his prescription pad and handed it to me, "This is what the prescription said". I looked at the piece of paper. It read, "mofene". Under that it said "1 lb".

Year One Done and a Nice Weekend in Houston

As of this last Friday my first year of school is done! We had our final exam over the last 5 months of material given by the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners). 4 hours and 200 questions of pure enjoyment. A tasty appetizer of the 8 hour test I will take at the end of my second year over everything from the first 2 years.

To celebrate being done we had a nice relaxing weekend. Our ward had a Hawaiian Luau Friday night that we went to and afterwards I made us some mango-strawberry-pina coladas but our blender bottom came off as I was finishing the smoothies so we had to eat them out of a big bowl. Yeah, we're weird like that. 

Monday I start my preceptorship in Family Medicine. I'll be following around a family medicine doc (not sure exactly how involved it will be since I don't really know much of anything) for 4 weeks. Sometimes it's funny to me how when I tell people that I am going to medical school they ask me all sorts of detailed medical questions or ask me what I am going to specialize in like I know what I am doing.

Saturday we went down to Houston to the temple and the Zoo. It just so happened while we were at the temple one of the missionaries from my mission was getting married that day. As we were leaving the temple we also saw my Sister-in-law Mickisha's sister Kali there for a friends wedding. It's a small world I guess. 

After the temple we went to a Greek restaurant called Niko Niko's and the Houston Zoo. Here's a picture of a orangutan I took at the zoo. I guess I had never seen one before because I had no idea how big they are and it took me a little while to figure which end was the head and which was the behind. I'll let you decide. 

The Case of the Missing Pincushion

I have been working on some quiet book pages the last few months as a project to do in my "free time" (for those of you who don't know it's a book for your kids to make them be quiet). As you all know we do not have children nor are we planning on having them in the near future (had to throw that disclaimer in there to keep you from thinking this post is going in a completely different direction than it is). My sister Jenn made one and it took her 9 months, so I figured it will take me years, so I figured I should get a head start now because I know full well that I will not do it later. Well, in order to cut out pieces of felt you obviously need pins, which I regularly leave in places that Steve probably does not appreciate (and no, he has not sat on one...yet). On Tuesday I couldn't find my pincushion anywhere. I literally tore apart the apartment three times looking for the stupid thing. I even checked Charlie's bed. When Steve got home I told him that I was convinced that Charlie stole it and hid it from me. I think he may have thought I was paranoid, but it turns out I was not. I thought I would make one last effort and guess where I found it? Under my BED!!! I think if Sherlock Holmes had been involved he would have found it quicker. I'm not going to lie, I was starting think I was just looking to blame the cat because then I would feel less stupid for losing it, but this time I was justified. However, I'm still unsure as to how it got all the way from the living room to the bed. This incident may also explain the disappearance of the sixth Nerf dart that recently went missing. He may find himself up for auction on EBAY if he keeps this up....

The Day the Elephant Died

Yes folks, it's true. One of the elephants died while we were at the circus on Friday. Talk about traumatizing. Just kidding. It didn't die, but it was lying on the ground so that one of the other elephants could sit on it, so it may as well be dead. Steve and I had never been to a circus before, so when it came to College Station this week we decided to go. And I decided that "carnies" really are weird people. If one of our future children told us as an adult that joining the circus was their life dream I would die a little inside. Actually, a lot.

Our favorite part was watching the trained cats and dogs to tricks. Mostly because we like to believe we have "trained" the beast formerly know as Charlie to perform. For quite some time we have been teaching Charlie to walk backwards on his hind legs when we are bringing him food, so we were thinking about sending him to the circus so he can make money for us (at least until Steve becomes a breadwinner). That way I can quit substitute teaching and enjoy a life of leisure.

The one disappointment I had was that there was no lion or tiger. How can you be the greatest show on earth without one?! Have people really lowered their circus standards so low that they no longer see the need for an animal that could tear you like a paper shredder if he wanted? I was hoping them closing the show was just a fake-out for an encore to bring out the lion, so I made Steve stay in our seats. And we got nothin'! It really was the end of the show. I wanted to see the ringmaster stick his head inside his mouth. So either all the children's books I read growing up were a lie or this guy was a fake. I vote the latter.

And so the moral of the story is Barnum and Bailey is not the greatest show on earth, Disneyland/world is/are not the happiest places on earth and beef is not what is for dinner. What a crock.

Happy Anniversary to me! (and Steve)

I just got back from spending two weeks with Jenn, Aaron and baby Sarah in St. George. It was good to see family and to spend time with Sarah (who looks SO MUCH like Jenn now, just with Aaron's head). She is learning to say a few words among which is Jesus, but sounds like cheese. She evens points to his picture every time she sees it (she also enjoys pointing at your face and occasionally trying to grab your eyelids). She also has decided to use a fake laugh, often after you laugh. I had a hard time discerning whether she was laughing with me or mocking me, but based on her feisty personality I will have to say the latter.

We regularly took her to a water park as she loves to play in water (bath time with her is more like playing at a water park and your bathroom gets just as wet). She thinks it's the funnest thing in the world even though you can see her lip quivering. It's also quite entertaining to see her yell at the water in the mini waterfalls. On our way to the grocery store one morning we happened to take a shortcut through the park and she got so excited when she saw the water, but when we walked past it she started to cry because she was so sad. I think she may have thought we tricked her or something, but we felt so bad we took a different route on our way home.

I flew home on Steve and I's (is that correct?) anniversary and I was surprised by a bunch of post-it-note hearts that Steve had put all over the apartment (including one hidden in the toilet paper roll) of things he loves about me (after that my gift seemed pretty lame). We had gotten home pretty late and went to bed soon after getting back to the apartment. I was woken up at 2 am by a warm spot next to me. Thinking it was Steve wanting to cuddle because he missed me I went to give him a kiss on the cheek only to get a mouth full of CHARLIE FUR!!!!! The beast had found a small spot between Steve and I in the bed and had crawled in it and fallen asleep. Steve woke up to the sound of me spitting up fur and demanding that he throw him off the bed. I leave for two weeks and Charlie thinks he can sleep wherever he wants. What a bum.

The Nerd Burglar

So Megan has been gone for the past week in St. George visiting her sister and will continue to be gone for the next week, proving that things really do fall apart without her here. Dirty clothes all over the place, grocery bags on the kitchen floor from when I got some groceries earlier in the week, pile full of dirty dishes, empty containers of various microwavable foods (I can cook I've just been busy), and I somehow also managed to get our credit card number stolen. Go me.

The thief racked up about $600 of computer parts from various online sites and a $90 order from proflowers.com. I postulated the following scenarios: 1.A criminal nerd was trying to woo his female nerd counter part. 2. Said criminal nerd was trying to keep his Mom from kicking him out of the basement by buying her flowers.

Just having a lazy Sunday now being bored that Megan's gone and I'm not furiously studying for my Neuroscience test (it was Friday). I also had a test on Wednesday where we had to show one of the doctors in the family medicine department that we knew how to do a physical exam. The doctor said that I did well, except for one thing. Apparently after I checked sensation in the legs I tested the knee jerk reflex crouching down (wasn't thinking). The doctor said if the patient had overactive reflexes I might just get a swift kick in my vulnerable parts (not exactly how he put it, but family might be reading this.)

Please Don't Feed the Cat Junk Food

Our little friend Charlie the cat has turned out to be quite the troublemaker. I thought having an inside pet would be a piece-o-cake. Lies, all lies. Last Sunday I took a 45 minute nap and was awakened by the cupboards opening. When I went out to investigate I discovered that he had tried to open them and even tried to break into my butter dish. If it has salt or meat, he turns into a monster to try and eat it. He even climbed up my arms to try and steal my grilled cheese sandwich the other day (Steve overheard it while I was talking to him on the phone and I think he may have thought the cat won).

We have also discovered that he likes junk food. If you drop a piece of popcorn you should not even bother trying to pick it up because Charlie will not only get it before you do, but he will also "inadvertently" bite you with his four remaining fangs. And, as it turns out, it doesn't matter if you hold the popcorn bowl up in the air while sitting on the couch because he can stretch his neck far enough that he can still steal the popcorn from you.

Well, for some reason Steve seems to think that this gives him license to give the kitty food since he is going to steal it anyway. While watching General Conference today I was snacking on a bag of Corn Nuts. Later I found out that Steve was biting them into little pieces to FEED THEM TO MY KITTY!!! Steve will be demoted to litter duty until further notice.