4/9 done!

My final practical for the summer semester was almost a month ago.  I realized that although I am less than halfway done with my program, I am MORE than half done with classroom work - of the remaining 5 semesters, 2 are spent on clinical rotations!  So far, I know that my first one will be in San Diego - I'll be there from early January through mid-March.  I'll hopefully know within the next month where my remaining two clinical rotations will be.

I had a great learning experience at Benchmark Physical Therapy in Woodstock, GA.  My clinical instructors allowed me to treat at least a dozen patients in the course of my two weeks, from neck to toes!  They challenged me in the best possible way, having patients tell me if I was able to match any given technique they applied.  I wished I could have just stayed there and worked with them instead of going back to sitting long hours in classrooms.

I spent most of my very short break working, although Saturday afternoon and evening was spent making dinner for a few first year DPT students as they studied for their anatomy finals - written and practical.  Dan (a 3rd year) and I prepared both Vietnamese spring rolls and chicken potstickers.  This was my first attempt at potstickers instead of wontons, and my first try with chicken instead of pork filling for dumplings.  It was successful, I must say!

katherine and dan with the spring roll fixings

sultan and moire making potstickers

potstickers!

michelle, sultan, and moire full and ready for a movie!

We finished off the evening watching "The Princess Bride."  Since Michelle had never seen it, we all agreed it was necessary.  For some reason, I couldn't get my DVD player to work with my TV, so we ended up watching it on my computer monitor.  The screen is about as big as the TV anyway, and better quality!

Garden update - I've been enjoying my occasional cherry tomato (ate one yesterday) and have eaten one of my cucumbers.  I think there are 5 on the vines right now, and they're funny - they're pear-shaped!  One of them is becoming slowly less pear-shaped, I'll probably pick it and eat it soon.

the first cucumber as it lost its pear shape

School has started again, we're in the third week.  Our first "Quiz" is Wednesday.  Apparently, the faculty have been requested to call all tests "Quizzes" from here on out.  We'll see how that goes...

this gorgeous plumeria is in a front yard i pass daily on the way to school

The first Sunday afternoon of the semester, Rob, Jessica, and I visited Zoo Atlanta.  Not much was going on - the weather was pretty muggy, so I don't blame the animals for not wanting to do much.  It was still fun!

jessica and rob - possibly the first ever bearded meerkat!

the elephant was enjoying his bath

only one of their 5 otters was moving around, and not for long

sleepy red panda

giant panda on the move

My schedule this semester has a nice twist compared to previous semesters - the times are almost completely consistent from week to week.  Now if they could only get us in the same room from week to week for each class, it might feel like a normal school!