england!

Although I was well enough to travel, I was still coughing pretty ferociously when I left for England.  My transatlantic flight was on Virgin Atlantic, and for various reasons, I had ended up with a middle seat.  While waiting for the flight in LAX, I decided it was worth it to pay for an upgrade to an aisle seat in an exit row so I wouldn't be stuck between two people for 10 hours, unable to avoid coughing in the direction of one person or the other.  The upgrade put me in the upstairs of the 747, in a bulkhead row.  It ended up being quite comfortable.

I arrived at Heathrow just before noon, and walked out from customs to see Janine, Geoff, Grace, and Ewan waiting for me with big smiles and a poster to welcome me!  Janine informed me that sometime before I arrived, the following exchange occurred:
Ewan: Mommy, will she be in a wheelchair?
Janine: NO! WHY would she be in a wheelchair??
E: Well, you said she was older than YOU!

ewan and grace with my poster
(i was too out of it to take a photo at the airport)

We piled into their car along with my luggage, their luggage, and their bikes and drove off to Stanwick to Uncle Yan and Auntie Val's house.  Janine and family stayed for three nights, and we enjoyed time playing with the kids, taking a walk to the Stanwick Pocket Park, enjoying Auntie Val's birthday tea/ barbecue, and Friday I went cycling at Stanwick Lakes with Geoff and the kids while Janine had a girls' day reunion with childhood friends.  On the first night, this brief conversation happened:
Grace: I like Nancy.
Janine: Why?
G: Well... she's very nice, and she's STRONG!

grace, geoff, janine, and ewan
outside the church where j & g got married 10 years earlier

celebrating auntie val's birthday
geoff, uncle yan, auntie val, jeff, sharon, tony, jayne, and janine

grace, ewan, and geoff cycling at stanwick lakes

Saturday morning, Janine and family returned home.  That afternoon, Uncle Yan and Auntie Val took me via the town of Oundle to see Lyveden New Bield.  Oundle is an ancient market town that received its market charter in 972.  It's very picturesque, with centuries-old stone buildings on both sides of the narrow main street.

main street in oundle

Lyveden New Bield is an unfinished banqueting house or "secret house" on a site with an intricate history, from the Roman settlements in the valley to the schism between Catholics and the Church of England to the Gunpowder Plot.  The building stands almost exactly as it was left in 1605 when the death of the landowner was followed by the builders walking off the job as they were no longer being paid.  The building is boldly filled with Catholic symbolism incorporating the numbers 3 (the trinity), 5 (the number of the Christ), and 7 (the number of the Godhead), carved symbols representing sacraments and events in the life of Christ, and a Latin inscription just below the cornice along the top of the walls.  It was meant to be reached from the manor house along a very planned set of experiences in the gardens, including orchards, a moat, sheep pastures, a wildflower meadow, and carefully located mounds of earth to climb.

looking up in the south wing of the building,
where the stairwell was planned

view from one of the spiral mounds
incorporating the building and the "wildflower meadow"

Sunday, we just relaxed and prepared for our trip northward, to be covered in the next post...

in the interim

Since my last post, I've been plugging along - going to school, taking exams, climbing at the climbing wall, everything else that constitutes "normal" life here.

Here's my most prolific harvest of the season (note the penny for scale):

homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes!

All of my cucumbers were pear-shaped - the one on the right is the most any of them filled out.  The pale orange tomato decided to fall off when I picked the red one.

I've finally started getting paid for working at the climbing wall - an extra $16 a week can't hurt!  Over the summer, I got a few of the first year DPTs into climbing at the wall, now I've got a couple third years gung-ho for climbing.  My big, Kim, and Morgan tried it out for the first time at the beginning of September and have come regularly since then, and are both now belay certified as well.

kim climbing

morgan belaying kim

kim belaying morgan as she heads up to finish this route for the first time

soccer game under the lights and a spectacular sunset as i left the gym

I also spent a concentrated amount of time planning and packing - next post will cover my most recent adventure, and an epic adventure it was!!

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!

full moon hike?

I had this brilliant idea on my last walk up Stone Mountain that it would be really fun to climb it on a full moon night.  I checked online for the next full moon and it was July 3.  I posted an invitation on my class and the first year class facebook pages.  I didn't expect a huge response since many people feel the need to go out and party when there's no school the next day, especially with the first year class celebrating finishing their first anatomy exam.

As the time got closer, it looked like there would be a group of five to ten people.  The plan was to drive off toward Stone Mountain around 7:15, giving us plenty of time to get to the top before moonrise (8:48 PM) and sunset (8:51 PM).  Around 5:30 the rain started, and quickly turned to thunderstorms.  Texts and phone calls flew back and forth, and people were still willing to try it.

Six intrepid souls chose to make the trek - one third year, one second year (me), and four first year DPT students.  We started out from Stone Mountain Village in a free parking lot and walked toward Stone Mountain Park.  It was raining, but not too hard - one person had a raincoat, and three umbrellas went up.  The granite was a little slippery, but not bad, and the rain kept the temperature reasonable.  There was still lightning, but it seemed pretty far away.

The sunset was pretty cool when we got close to the top, the sun glowing red through the clouds.  The rain had let up somewhat.

red sunset

arriving at the top with raindrops glowing in the camera flash

The rain started up again as we got to the top and didn't let up again until sometime late that night.  AND the lightning and thunder started up again, closer and closer.

group shot in a gazebo at the top
l-r: katherine, ashley, moire, me, sultan, dan

We made our way back down, slipping and sliding - some more than others.  Right after we left the top, there was an extra-bright flash of lightning and nearly instantaneous thunder.  I happened to glance back at the end of the flash, and I'm pretty sure lightning struck at the top!  Nevertheless, we all made it back to the cars in one piece, and a good time was had by all.  We're hoping to try again some other full moon night, hopefully without the thunderstorms.

A garden update: my plants are doing well except that some bug seems to be eating any new growth on my cherry tomato plant - leaves, flowers, and fruit!

the biggest cucumber i currently have growing

ripening cherry tomatoes

lettuce

Happy Fourth of July, all!!

second year!

To start off my second year of PT school, I volunteered to help out with graduation for the class of 2012.  The next day, we started right off with a full 8-hour lecture schedule.  Fortunately, the schedule eased up after the first couple weeks, and we have a lot of labs now and not such full days of class.  I made a second try at container gardening, this time skipping the fruitless zucchini attempt and trying cucumber and rosemary.

baby tomato plant

pickling cucumber and rosemary

In early June, the DPT Class of 2015 showed up.  Each incoming student is paired up with a second year as a "big."  I met my "little" a couple days after she got to Atlanta.  That Friday the second years hosted a welcome party for the first years.

moire (my little) and me

She joined me for a walk up Stone Mountain with some of the women from Veritas Church.  The night before, I chopped off nearly a foot of my hair and donated it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

over 11 inches!!

panoramic sunset shot from stone mountain

moire and me at the top of stone mountain

some of the women from veritas church

The last full weekend in June I joined a bunch of classmates as well as PA students, med students, and other volunteers to go to Valdosta in south Georgia.  We held free medical clinics to help the many migrant farmworkers and impoverished locals in the area.  The PA students acted as primary care with volunteer MDs supervising, referring as needed to PT and marriage and family counselor students from Valdosta State.  It was an amazing experience, treating patients under the watchful eye of Emory PT alumni who volunteered their time as well.

a couple of farmworkers picking blackberries

setting up the PT treatment areas

group shot of the Valdosta team

Alan arrived in Atlanta for a work conference shortly before I got back from Valdosta.  We were able to coordinate busy schedules and get together for a little bit on Monday, since he was conveniently located in the Emory Conference Center Hotel, just up the hill from the main Emory campus.

alan with a borrowed bike from the emory conference center hotel

The first three weeks of June were mercifully cool compared to last year, followed by a week of increasing heat, culminating in a new all-time heat record for the city of Atlanta on June 30.

I've been helping out in the anatomy lab with the first year class.  It's been fun getting to know them a bit, and really great review as I am forced to remember or look things up each time they ask me a question.  Several of them have joined me at the climbing wall, as well!

tomato update and more

I've been trimming off the branches of my tomato plant as they start to look pathetic.  I neglected it for a couple weeks (since it hadn't been giving me fresh tomatoes!), and then chopped off a bunch of branches.

The unexpected result:

 The plant has a LOT of new growth - one stalk over 10" tall, 10-12 new flowers, and at least one tiny tomato that's over 1 cm diameter visible on the upper right.  The larger tomato that's beginning to turn red is the last of the "old" crop.  The last few tomatoes were rotting on the vine before they were all the way ripe.

And here is evidence that fall is really trying to be here:

I did NOT get to play tennis with my friend Aylin on Friday since the varsity team had all the courts booked on the main campus.  We had quite the on-campus adventures instead.  The end results - we logged quite a few miles walking back and forth and around campus, I have now had my first ride on the Emory Cliff Shuttle - only to have it break down on us, I have a locker in the School of Medicine in which I can keep stuff through next summer, I now own of a ping pong ball courtesy of the on-campus gym, and Aylin and I played ping pong in the School of Medicine instead of our planned tennis lesson.

holy tornado warning!

Labor Day weekend was relaxing for the most part. I swam Saturday morning - forgot my goggles, so just kicked 800 yards, actually. Sunday afternoon we played volleyball again. The weather was great, not too hot, overcast, and occasionally sprinkling. It was great timing, as it started to rain pretty hard as we drove away. Most of the group went out for dinner and then to Mackenzie and Anjali's apartment for a couple movies. It was pretty exciting to actually WANT to put on jeans for the first time since I moved here!

Monday I decided to be responsible and do my homework, especially since it was pouring rain for most of the day. I was sitting at my desk working away when I heard funny sounds. I realized they were coming from outside, then I got a text message on my phone: "A tornado warning has been issued for the Emory Campus. Seek shelter. Refer to local tv/ radio for updates." It turns out those were the on-campus warning sirens. Seriously, Emory? "Seek Shelter." Could they be any more vague? For those who have been through tornado warnings before, I'm sure it made perfect sense. For a West Coaster, I'd be much happier with an earthquake, thank you. I did the intelligent thing and posted my facebook status update as, "a tornado warning has been issued for the emory campus. what am i supposed to do with a tornado warning? i come from the west coast, i know what to do with an earthquake..." Although I got the expected silly responses from a bunch of friends, I also quickly got the correct answers. Not very helpful for my situation, but at least I know what to do now:
Stay on the lowest possible floor of a building, move to the center of the building, stay away from windows, get in the bathtub. Hmmm. I live in a one-story, two room little house with big skylights where the bathroom is at the tail end of the house and doesn't even HAVE a bathtub! And I'm under several large trees. Oh well. The situation is over.

Back to the homework. I was still trying to accomplish this when the power flickered a couple times and then went out briefly. It came back with no problems, except I no longer had internet access. My landlords were out of town, so I suspect they needed to push a button or something to restart the wireless. So this is the consequence of procrastination:

I had to drive to campus to use the on-campus wireless to finish my homework. Sigh. I guess my landlords are back because the internet has returned. Good thing - we actually have a lot of things that require access for classes and other school related activities.

The grapes keep coming, I'm now up to 4 classmates with whom I share them, and I still have plenty for myself!

a plethora of grapes

The grapes are ripening faster than I can eat them. And that's just the ones that DON'T get knocked down and chewed on by the critters of the night!

This is what I picked after playing volleyball today. Before volleyball, I had already picked two small bags and shared them with friends. I'm going to have happy friends tomorrow!

6 day... break?

First semester is done as of Monday evening, eight semesters to go... Now I'm in the middle of a 6 day "break" but haven't taken much of a break - I'm working every day! It's been a great experience working with Stephen, a 6 year old special needs boy. He's very sweet, and needs almost constant attention.

The grapevines outside my door are providing delicious grapes in abundance:

However, this is not always a good thing... This is what I see outside my door every morning:

I'm not sure whether it's squirrels, chipmunks, or something else that's causing grapes in all degrees of ripeness to end up all over the patio. Many of them are partly or half-eaten, attracting a constant cloud of fruit flies.

Garden update:

My tomatoes have taken a break - there are 4 or 5 green ones on the vine, but I haven't had a ripe one in a couple of weeks, maybe even 3. The plant was nearly getting overshadowed by the marigolds so I rotated the pot 180 degrees this morning.

I have super scraggly lettuce, and there's a tiny mushroom farm on one side of the pot. At least the lettuce still tastes good! I've been using it in sandwiches.

I've pretty much given up on the zucchini. It keeps blooming, but never seems to want to produce any fruit.

I purchased "live basil" in the grocery store a couple weeks ago and decided to plant it when I got home. It's doing well so far, even though I've picked off a bunch of leaves a couple times!

My favorite breakfast - homemade waffles! I make a batch of batter and then keep it in the fridge, it lasts me 3 days.

In other news, I've continued swimming at the Clairmont campus. I think I probably did the slowest 1400 yard workout in the history of swimming today, but it feels good! I ride my bike over there, and every day, I have to clean spider webs off the bike. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out. It's amazing how fast those arachnids get to work!