Adventures in Life

Gabe went with me to my externship site today. While I was seeing patients he went to Panera and Barnes & Noble. Afterwards, we had lunch, went to Borders (where I purchased another book on CD), and went to Greek Fest. Greek Fest didn't start until 4:00 p.m., otherwise we would have eaten lunch there. If you are thinking about going, there is a mandatory $2.00 donation per person. We didn't mind paying, but mandatory donations always crack me up. After walking around and seeing what all of the vendors had to offer we headed back home. My computer was having a few issues and while Gabe worked on it I started packing. The front room is basically packed up. I plan on packing more tomorrow. I am really excited about getting Monday off...two days in a row...wow! Unfortunately I think that I may have to work on Wednesday to make it up.

Posted by at 10:41 PM | Permalink

The packing wars have begun. Gabe has already started removing things from the cabinets and placing them into boxes. He purchased packing supplies at Sam's today. So, moving part 2 has started and I am already wishing that it was over and we were settled into the new apartment. The thing that I really hate most is the empty apartment feeling when everything is packed away. I also hate trying to figure out what can be packed early and what should stay out until the last minute. I have this feeling that as soon as I pack something away I will have an urgent need to use it.
I have recently come to the conclusion that I need to watch all of the shows saved on our Dishnetwork recorder. We have to send it back once we move and they will send us a new one, so I will lose all of the saved shows.
Tomorrow should be pretty exciting. The ophthalmologist is coming to the office where I am an intern. He will be performing LASIK and I get to watch.
I have a strong desire to go to a bookstore tonight. I don't think that it is going to happen. It is already late and I am tired.

Posted by at 8:37 PM | Permalink

Commuting sucks! This is the second day that my commute time in the morning has been over 2 hours. If it rains, it is pretty much a guarantee that my commute will reach at least 120 minutes. Yuck!
On Saturday Gabe rode up to my externship site with me (he went to Barnes & Noble and did some work while I saw patients). Afterward we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin. I will say that I am glad that I went once, but it probably isn't something that I will rush out to do again. After the faire, we went to the outlet malls...that I will do again.
Sunday we headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry. We went to the Frog exhibit...I highly suggest it. It is such a bargain at only $5.00. I guess that we felt like big spenders, because we also watched the Omnimax movie on Greece. I really want to go to Greece, so I thought that it would be a lot of fun. My suggestion is skip the movie and see the frogs. We also went to the Coal Mine exhibit. I must say that I was extremely disappointed...it doesn't help that I know some of the "facts" that they told us were not true. I feel like writing a letter to the museum pointing out their false information...maybe another day when I have more time.

Posted by at 7:43 PM | Permalink

Yesterday Gabe and I were up early to start the journey to Belleville, IL. One of my friends from college was getting married. I actually received a quadruple bonus. Julie, Mylisa, Natalie, and Al were all there as well. I am sad to say that I had not seen most of them since we were at the same college. I will say that we do talk and email each other though. It was a lot of fun. Some of us even made a pact to call each other at least once a month. We always have a ton of fun together. Hopefully some of them will be able to make their way north to visit sometime soon. We decided to head back to Chicago after the reception. We didn't arrive back at our apartment until around 2:00 in the morning. We were both so tired that I think we were both asleep by the time that our heads hit the pillows. Today we went to the movies with Nicole and Andrew and watched Superman. I must say that it was much better than I had expected. I still think that Superman looked way too young though. After the movie I have just been doing some things around the apartment...hanging up pictures, laundry, etc. Gabe has a project, paper, and final this week, so he has been pretty busy today working on "school stuff". I have four more weeks of school until my next rotation. I must say that I am not looking forward to the act of moving itself, but I am eager to live in a new location. I will miss this apartment though, it is the only place that Gabe and I have lived in together. I think that I am going to do some Sudoku before heading to bed.

Posted by at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Nothing too exciting has been going on since my last entry. I just finished working on my low vision presentation. It is on Choroideremia. I am meeting with the other two people in my group tomorrow to look over the information. Luckily we don't have to actually give the presentation until the 21st of July. We should have plenty of time to revise it before next Friday. I talked to my niece tonight. We were talking about books. Now I wish the next Harry Potter would come out and James Patterson would release another Alex Cross book. I have dispensing tomorrow morning and then I am off to Peds to do Vision Therapy. Fun stuff.

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We left around 3:30 p.m. from Chicago today to head to Eldorado. We arrived around 8:45. We made really good time on the trip. The first half of the ride I spent proofing a paper for my research project at school. The second half I spent driving while Gabe worked on his homework. We didn't really do much else.
I know that I have said it before (at least to some of you in person), but I really like my low vision rotation at school. It is a pretty neat feeling to take someone that has given up the hope of ever reading again and watching them read a newspaper for the first time in years. It really makes my day when it happens.

Posted by at 11:24 PM | Permalink

Continuing Education classes comprised the majority of my day today and yesterday. I needed 7 classes to make up for my missed clinical assignments. Today, after the classes were over Gabe and I walked down the strip and watched the water show at the Bellagio Fountain. I needed some classic Sinatra to go with it...it would have made me feel like a character from Ocean's 11. We also went to Freemont Street to "Old Vegas". This portion of Vegas reminded me of Vegas from the movies (ex. National Lampoons). The lights were amazing. I did not visit Freemont Street on my previous Vegas trip. We headed to Binions for a $5.95 sirloin with baked potato and vegetables. This is the area of Vegas to find cheap food. We ate around 1:00 a.m. which beats our previous meal time by 2 hours. The past few nights dinner was at 3:00 a.m. We watched the hourly LASER show and took a $2.00 hour long bus ride back to the hotel.

Posted by at 7:58 PM | Permalink

Gabe and I went to see X-Men: The Last Stand. I must say that I was disappointed. It didn't seem to be the same as the others. Instead of an adventure this was more of a resolution. I am really surprised that they left the ending open for another movie. I feel it was just plain cheesy! The good part about it is that we went to Hollywood Boulevard (the dinner and movie place). Well, I am off to school.

Posted by at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Saturday we had some friends (Andrew, Nicole, Tony, and Maren) over to watch a movie. We watched When a Stranger Calls. We spent most of the movie making fun of the characteristic "scary movie" problems. For example, why does she call the parents of the children when she should be calling the police? My favorite is why do the characters in the "scary movies" always run up the stairs when they should be running out the door? At least she wasn't big chested running in high heels through the woods. Sunday Gabe and I went to the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum. I am glad that I went to see it, but I do not think that I would go again. I was disappointed in the amount of items on display, but don't get me wrong, what they do have is nice. Maybe Gabe and I will go to Egypt someday...then I can get my fill of Egyptian artifacts. Afterwards we watched Polar Express. I was previously under the impression that it was a childrens movie. After watching it I am not quite so sure. It seemed geared more towards adults to me. My overall impression is that it was alright, but I probably will not watch it again. After that we watched Just Friends. It was pretty funny. Gabe said that he liked the Break up better. Yesterday wasn't too exciting...I got up, I went to clinic, I had dinner, I went to bed. Today I got up, I went to clinic, I am going to have dinner, and I am going to go to bed. Tomorrow I will get up, I will go to clinic, I will have dinner, and I will go to bed. You get the picture.

Posted by at 6:40 PM | Permalink

Today after clinic I didn't accomplish much. Gabe and I flipped through that T.V. stations in an attempt to procrastinate even more. The only thing that we could find on the T.V. worth watching was the spelling bee finals...and that was a stretch. So, we became hooked and I found myself rooting for the girl from N.J. in the final rounds. Katie Close won by spelling the word "Ursprache" correctly. For those of you wondering, ursprache is a hypothetically reconstructed parent language. I wonder how many times the word has been googled since the end of the competition. So, yes, I did watch the spelling bee (I know it sounds sad), and I actually enjoyed it!

Posted by at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am officially in my fourth year of optometry school. So far there are a lot more patients and barely any time to do anything (I blame this on the fact that all of the rotations that I am in are new). I am at school around 8:00 a.m. and I come home after 7:00 p.m. Most days there isn't time to eat lunch so the two pieces of toast that I have at 6:30 a.m. have to last me until 7:30 p.m. or later. I usually end up coming home with a headache. Andrew H. (a friend that has the IEI rotations in the summer as well) is experiencing the same thing. We both decided that this rotation might make a good diet. Gabe and I will sit down to watch a movie and usually do a really good job of making it through the first part, but I always miss the ends because I fall asleep. It is sad to say, but I usually fall asleep around 9:00. Last week was nice because Gabe had time off from school and so he would sometimes fix dinner. He starts back this week and will be at school three days. Anyone know any good crock pot recipes? We will probably be eating a lot of them. I do expect things to get better at school, like I said it was my first week and I will get faster.

Posted by at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

All of the finals are finished. Well, at least until the mother of all finals...boards. Those will reer their ugly head in December (Part II) and then again in April (Part III). Primary care clinic sessions at school are over as well. My first rotation is at school in Pediatrics/Binocular Vision, Low Vision, and Advanced Care.
Wednesday night I had a Lia Sophia Jewelry Party. It was a lot of fun and I ordered some really cute jewelry. Several of my friends came over and we all tried on jewelry.
I watched the final 7th Heaven a few days ago and must say that I am a little disappointed in the ending. They didn't really tie up loose ends. I have heard rumors that they may be trying to sign the show on for one more season. I am assuming that is why they ended the series the way that they did.
The Gilmore Girls season finale was o.k. For those of you that watch, I have pretty much decided that I want Lorelai to get with Christopher and dump Luke.

Posted by at 4:39 PM | Permalink

Well, the blogging has been a little lax lately. Maybe it is because I have been studying for finals...nah! I did study *some* on Friday night. Then, Saturday after the final Gabe and I went shopping. I purchased some clothes for clinic. Nothing too exciting. Yesterday I did manage to put in a few hours of hitting the books. My test is in a couple of hours. I still have some stuff to read. I should have plenty of time. I just get really tired of studying for finals. I have another tomorrow. I really don't mind having back to back finals, I probably would use it to study much anyway. At least when they are back to back I have to force myself to read the material. Two more finals and one clinic spot until fourth year! Okay, I guess that I should study now.

Posted by at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, Gabe and I are on the road again. This time we are headed off to Indianapolis to the Indiana Optometric Association Convention. He is actually registered, though I doubt that he will be participating in the continuing education (CE) classes. While I am taking CE classes on glaucoma, retinal detachments, and penetrating keratoplasty he will be in the hotel room working on his paper for school. Once again, I am typing this blog entry while we are on the road. I really do enjoy cell phone internet. It is after 11:00 p.m. and we still haven't had dinner. So far our choices have consisted of McDonald's, McDonald's, and McDonalds. I was joking about getting a doughnut at the Shell Station where we filled up with gas. I am beginning to think that I really should have. I always seem to forget that when you are on a trip with Gabe you don't stop for food. How I wish that I had the carrots from the fridge at home. I did bring water, but that just isn't doing the trick. Today wasn't super exciting. Tony, Ryan, and I began working on our paper for our Third year research project. It is on the effects of zeaxanthin on chronic light hypersensitivity. We began dividing up the work since this quarter is almost over and once we become fourth years we will not longer all be at ICOIEI at the same time. I am hoping that we can complete the paper before next quarter begins but I am not sure that we will make it. I also worked some this morning. Classes followed and then we left for Indiana. I drove the first portion of the trip so that Gabe could do some work. Now he driving and I get the computer. Well, I think that I am going to surf the net.

Posted by at 11:12 PM | Permalink

Yesterday I took my strab exam. We also received our scores yesterday. Usually we get a day or so to act as a buffer period before our scores are released back to us. Everything with the exam turned out fine. After the exam I went to my POP job. POP stands for Pediatric Outreach Program. We go to various daycare centers and perform comprehensive eye exams on pre-schoolers. The fourth years pretty much do the eye exams and I do a lot of paper work. It is part of the externship rotation. I do however get to do an occasional exam. After that I worked on the report for our Infant and Child Development practical patient. Class followed and then I came home.
Today I had clinic. Only three more clinic slots until I am a fourth year. Wow! Even though I count down the days I haven't really thought of it like that before...just three more slots. Finals are coming up soon...look for the number of posts to increase. Currently I am watching "Circle of Friends" while typing my blog entry. It has been a while since I have watched it. I still have some of the parts memorized and Gabe asked how may times I have actually watched the movie. I forgot how creepy Sean is. One thing that bothers me about the movie is that they took the backbone out of Benny. If you plan on reading the book or watching the movie and don't want the ending ruined, quit reading now. Okay, if you are still reading here it is...she would have never went back to Jack. He didn't deserve Bennie. Well, I am signing out for tonight...back to the movie.

Posted by at 9:15 PM | Permalink

I just finished watching 7th Heaven. Okay, so now all of you know the show that I need to replace since there are only two episodes left. Anyway, the last few episodes have really focused on Oreo cookies. I think that their marketing tactic is working, because I now find myself craving Oreo cookies and I am not even that big of a fan. Something funny did happen during the episode though. When Kevin and Simon were eating dinner Kevin asked for dessert. Simon said that he had some Oreos. At the same time and while they were eating the cookies an advertisement for Crest Health-Pro Rinse popped up on the screen. They were a sponsor for the episode. Funny thing though, the Oreo marketing worked but I don't find myself wanting to run out and by Crest Health-Pro Rinse. Okay, so now I really need to study.

Posted by at 8:39 PM | Permalink

Ever wonder which Scrubs character you might be? Take a quiz and find out. Thanks to the soon to be birthday girl, Nicole, for the link. I must be honest and say that I don't really watch the show, but a lot of people that I know do. I am looking for a new show to watch since one of the three that I follow only has three episodes left...this may be the replacement. I did watch part of Grey's Anatomy last night and it was pretty good. I am thinking about watching the first season...hmm if I had it now I might start watching. It is probably a good thing that I don't, I need to study. On a totally different wave length...I had a practical today for Infant and Child Development. It was the first group practical that I have ever taken and I must say that it was pretty relaxed. I administered the Intelligence Test. I hope that our group passed. If we didn't then we each have to repeat the entire practical individually, which also means that we each need our own patient by next Monday, when the repeat will occur. So, hopefully we passed since I have an allergy testing session scheduled for Monday...sounds like fun...maybe I would rather do the practical again ;) Well, enough stalling, I should probably get back to studying for my strab exam.

Posted by at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

While in clinic today a doctor showed me this website. Aside from the fact that there are some major issues with the info (i.e., LASIK ablates part of the cornea not the lens and how does the flap get pulled back?), it is very funny. If it didn't cost $100 I would order one just to see what it is like, though I am not too eager to give them my credit card number and they don't take paypal.

Posted by at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have a had a fairly decent week, minus the test. However, I had an extraordinary day a few days ago. I heard from a couple of friends (actually 3). It always makes me happy to hear what is going on in their lives, since I no longer get to see them on a regular basis. Also, we had an extra-credit quiz in one of my classes, and I got the problem right. Oh yeah, and the weather was great. I am really looking forward to grilling again this summer, and I am not talking about the George Foreman that we have used all winter.

Posted by at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In addition to my normal Monday through Saturday schedule at school I managed to squeeze in a Sunday lecture. I just returned from the Contact Lens Symposium. While I was there I was beginning to wonder why I signed up, this was my seventh day in a row educating myself in the wonderful building where I seriously believe that I have left a permanent imprint of my behind in the seat. It turns out that the symposium was pretty fun and I did learn a lot, I just want a little time to relax. I would like to think that I will get it next weekend when I have off for Easter. Well, I guess that the thing that I really like the least is that I had to dress up everyday and I was only allowed to wear jeans on Monday. I realize that I have to dress up for the profession that I have chosen, but I would like more than one day to dress down. I love my jeans! I have stalled enough...I need to study for my neuro test on Tuesday.

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Construction has begun on the Dan Ryan in Chicago. They are going to be shutting down six lanes of traffic and IDOT is asking that cars use alternate routes and leave the remaining open lanes to the trucks. Well, people did a pretty good job of this today, and the alternate routes were backed up while the Dan Ryan was clear. So, as you can imagine, cars were taking the Dan Ryan. IDOT issued a statement saying that their goal was no cars on the Ryan and they were disappointed with the cars that were taking it. Well, I can't say that I blame the cars. If my commute time were going to be less taking the Ryan, then I think that I would take it over the alternate routes. There is also construction going on on at least one of the alternate routes and, in my opinion, it is not equipped to handle the extra traffic flow. Gabe said that most of the trucks were not taking the Dan Ryan, but instead were taking the toll road. I guess the toll system made a lot of money today. The Dan Ryan is the road that I take to school everyday, and unfortunately the alternate routes take about twice as long. Okay, so my commute is 20 minutes instead of 10, but a lot people have it worse than I do.

Posted by at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, the scleral depression lab was yesterday. It really wasn't that bad...just a little uncomfortable. Though I have noticed that now things seem a "little uncomfortable" and before when I was not an optometry student and I was getting my yearly eye exams, some things just plain hurt. Like the drops that you put in don't sting or burn, instead you say that they just "tingle a little". Plus, I have had so many of them put into my eyes with all of the practicing that we do on each other, they really don't bother me anymore. Back to scleral depression...you dilate your patient and take a scleral depressor (a.k.a. metal stick) and press on the eyeball through the eyelid while looking into the eye with a BIO and a lens. You are looking for holes, tears, etc., in the retina. It is a little harder to do than it sounds until you get the hang of it. Gabe is getting an eye exam soon, so I told him if we weren't too busy in clinic I was going to practice scleral depression on him. By his reaction, he either thinks that I am kidding, or he isn't too thrilled with the idea. Could be a little of both. For those of you shaming me right now for saying that he is getting an eye exam soon, he said that I could put that on my blog. :)

Posted by at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Since I know so many of you love hearing about optometry lab, I thought that I would fill you in on the lab from last week. Actually, it wasn't nearly as exciting as the Dilation and Irrigation lab from a few weeks ago. Let's see, foreign body removal...you get a foreign body in your eye and someone needs to remove it. It could be anything, even little specks of metal. So, before I can do it on a real patient, I practiced taking my forceps and golf club spud, yes that is the technical term, and removed many foreign bodies from a cup of jello designed to mimic the human cornea. We used a cup of jello, because I doubt that you could find many people willing to place a foreign body into their cornea so that we could remove it. Just in case I ever have to remove something from your cornea, I passed. We also did pressure patching. Basically, you tape some gauze over the eye in a particular way so that the patient cannot open their eye. Taking the tape off was the worst part. So, this lab wasn't that bad. Next week we all get dilated for the scleral depression lab...I have heard rumors that this one isn't pleasant, but I will let you know how it goes.

Posted by at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Eyeball was tonight. It is the formal for my school. Apparently this year, along with the formal, several engagements occurred. Congratulations to Andrew and Nicole...they became engaged on March 11. Also, a congratulations goes out to Jenny and Mark...they were engaged on March 10.

Posted by at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My school has set up a new filtering system on the school's email system. We are not allowed to filter our own email, they do it for us. So, initially I thought that it would be good to at least have some filter on the email that I received in the inbox. I was wrong. I now receive "Quarantine Reports". This means that I have to open the quarantine report to see if the email really is spam. It was so much easier when I could just look at the sender and click delete. Now I actually have to open an email to see if it should have been filtered out. I am getting spam of my spam! I have been tempted to delete all of the quarantine reports that I receive without opening them, but the first time I do, it will probably be an important email. So, as for now, I will continue to open the spam that I receive of my spam.

Posted by at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gabe has a mid-term today, so yesterday evening I went to a class at Archiver's with Nicole. Hmm...I think that Nicole has been mentioned more in this blog than anyone...maybe not as much as Gabe. Anyway, we went to the "Chalk Full of Color Workshop". There were points during the class that I believe I had more chalk on me than the card. The class had a dual purpose. It looked like fun (it was) and Gabe was supposed to study while I was gone. I am not entirely convinced that he didn't do other things besides study (tv, computer, games). :) I guess the moral of this entry is, if you get a birthday card from me it might be one from the workshop...I now have a bunch of them.

Posted by at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, school started yesterday. I can't say that I am completely ready to end my vacation, but I do enjoy having school-related things to do. Nothing too exciting happened yesterday. I did go to the post office and attempt to purchase five postcard stamps (24 cents each). They did not have them. They didn't even have 23 cent stamps and 1 cent stamps. You would think that someone would have made sure that they had the stamps available required for mailing a postcard, especially since the new increase in postage. Instead, I walked away with two 10 cent stamps and a 4 cent stamp for each piece of mail. Trust me, it wasn't easy fitting all of the stamps on the mail. Well, I have to get ready...school calls.

Posted by at 12:48 PM | Permalink

Finals are over for the quarter...yippee!!!! So, last night I decided to have a little fun and I went to a website that lists some dumb laws. I am not sure if these really are laws, but they are still funny. Since I am currently in Chicago, I figured I would list some dumb laws that are specifically for Chicago.

1. Law forbids eating in a place that is on fire - really?
2. It is illegal to give a dog whiskey
3. Kites may not be flown within the city limits - has anyone told the cops about kite day at the lake?
4. Spitting is forbidden
5. It is illegal to take a French poodle to the opera - I hate it when people take their French poodles and they bark along
6. It is illegal to fish in pajamas. - that is my favorite way to fish

Here are couple from the Chicagoland area:

Cicero: Humming on public streets is prohibited on Sundays.

Orland Park: No pool tables are allowed in a public establishment, because it supports gambling.

For my friends from Minnesota...Hamburgers may not be eaten on Sundays.

And, my favorite, you may not take a picture of a rabbit during the month of June in Wyoming.

Posted by at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, as my next final draws very near, I am finding it more and more difficult to study. In fact, with only a few pages left to read, the closer that I get to the end the harder it is to finish. I really don't have anything left to do but study. I promised Gabe that I would not pack for Ireland until after my exam was over tonight. So, there goes that chance to procrastinate. Funny thing is, I am not normally a procrastinator. I am the type of person that likes to get things finished extremely early. I never really understood the procrastinators. So I don't know what has happened to me for this set of finals. The only conclusion that I can come up with is that I am really ready for a break. Well, I am going to go hit the books for a few more hours and then I am going to relax a bit before my exam.

Posted by at 12:41 PM | Permalink

Well, I have today off...no class, no finals. So, one would come to the conclusion that I studied for my final exam that is tomorrow. Nope! I found all sorts of little things that I "needed" to do. The apartment is picked up, emails have been sent, pictures were placed into frames, I even cleaned off my desk...I was saving that one for when I ran out of things to do. I guess that I don't have anything left to do but study. Nah, I need to reorganize my notes for the test first. Hey, at least that activity does involve the notes for the exam tomorrow even if it doesn't involve me reading them.

Posted by at 7:56 PM | Permalink

Well, I have taken two of my final exams and I don't want to study anymore. This is really bad news for the remaining tests that I have. Gabe just predicted that there will be more blog entries posted during final exam week because I don't want to study, so I will just post to my blog. I must say that I am currently proving his point. In an effort to avoid studying the apartment has been cleaned, the menu planned for the week, and the list of things to do until departure to Ireland has been formed. I even cleaned out my email accounts. The only thing that I have left to do is clean off my desk, but I am saving that one for when I can't think of anything else to do to procrastinate. Not that I am bored, but maybe I should try something from this site. I think that I am going to "try" to study now.

Posted by at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Final exams start tomorrow!

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