Ashley's Blog

Geez, I'm such a girl...

2006-06-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've done 90 of these 158 things

[ ] I have read a lot of books.
[1] I have been on some sort of varsity team.
[2] I have run more than two miles without stopping.
[ ] I have been to Canada.
[ ] I have been to Europe.
[3] I have watched cartoons for hours.
[ ] I have tripped UP the stairs.
[ ] I have fallen down an entire flight of stairs.
[ ] I have been snowboarding/skiing.
[4] I have played ping pong.
[5] I swam in the ocean.
[ ] I have been on a whale watch.
[6] I have seen fireworks.
[ ] I have seen a shooting star.
[ ] I have seen a meteor shower.
[ ] I have almost drowned.
[7] I have been so embarrassed I wanted to disappear.
[8] I have listened to one CD over and over and over again.
[9] I have had stitches.
[ ] I have had frostbite.
[ ] I have licked a frozen pole and got stuck there.
[10] I have stayed up til 2 (and beyond) doing homework/projects.
[11] I have been ice skating.
[12] I have been rollerblading.
[13] I have fallen flat on my face.
[14] I have tripped over my own two feet.
[ ] I have been in a fist fight.
[ ] I have played videogames for more than three hours straight.
[ ] I have watched the Power Rangers.
[ ] I attend church regularly.
[15] I have played Truth or Dare.
[16] I have already had my 16th birthday.
[17] I have already had my 17th birthday.
[18] I’ve called someone stupid.
[19] I’ve been in a verbal argument.
[20] I’ve cried in school.
[ ] I’ve played basketball on a team.
[ ] I’ve played baseball on a team.
[ ] I’ve played football on a team.
[ ] I’ve played soccer on a team.
[ ] I’ve done cheerleading on a team.
[ ] I’ve played softball on a team.
[21] I’ve played volleyball on a team.
[ ] I’ve played tennis on a team.
[22] I’ve been on a track or cross country team.
[23] I’ve been swimming more than 20 times in my life.
[ ] I’ve bungee jumped.
[24] I’ve climbed a rock wall.
[25] I’ve lost more than $20.
[26] I’ve called myself an idiot.
[27] I’ve called someone else an idiot.
[28] I’ve cried myself to sleep.
[29] I’ve had (or have) pets.
[30] I’ve owned a Spice Girls CD/cassette.
[31] I’ve owned a Britney Spears CD.
[32] I’ve owned an N*Sync CD.
[33] I’ve owned a Backstreet Boys CD.
[34] I’ve mooned someone.
[35] I have sworn/yelled at someone of authority before.
[36] I’ve been in the newspaper.
[ ] I’ve been on TV.
[ ] I’ve been to Hawaii.
[37] I’ve eaten sushi.
[ ] I’ve been on the other side of a waterfall.
[ ] I’ve watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies.
[ ] I’ve watched all the Harry Potter movies.
[ ] I’ve watched all of the Rocky movies.
[ ] I’ve watched the Three Stooges.
[38] I’ve watched Newlyweds.
[39] I’ve watched Looney Tunes.
[ ] I’ve been stuffed into a locker/I have stuffed others into lockers.
[40] I’ve been called a geek.
[41] I’ve studied hard for a test and got a bad grade. (Welcome to med school)
[42] I’ve not studied at all for a test and aced it.
[ ] I’ve hugged my mom within the past 24 hours.
[ ] I’ve hugged my dad within the past 24 hours.
[43] I’ve met a celebrity/music artist.
[44] I’ve written poetry.
[ ] I’ve been arrested.
[45] I’ve been attracted to someone much older than me.
[46] I’ve been tickled till I’ve cried.
[47] I’ve tickled someone else until they cried.
[48] I’ve had/have siblings.
[49] I’ve been to a rock concert.
[50] I’ve listened to classical music and enjoyed it.
[51] I’ve been in a play.
[52] I’ve been picked last in gym class. (Probably)
[ ] I’ve been picked first in gym class.
[53] I’ve been picked in that middle-range in gym class.
[54] I’ve cried in front of my friends.
[ ] I’ve read a book longer than 1,000 pages.
[ ] I’ve played Halo 2.
[55] I’ve freaked out over a sports game.
[ ] I’ve been to Alaska
[ ] I’ve been to China.
[ ] I’ve been to Spain.
[ ] I’ve been to Japan.
[56] I’ve had a fight with someone on AIM/MSN.
[57] I’ve had a fight with someone face-to-face.
[58] I’ve had serious conversations on any IM.
[59] I’ve forgiven someone who has done something wrong to me.
[60] I’ve been forgiven.
[61] I’ve screamed at a scary movie.
[62] I’ve cried at a chick flick.
[ ] I’ve watched a lot of action movies.
[63] I’ve screamed at the top of my lungs.
[ ] I’ve been to a rap concert.
[ ] I’ve been to a hip hop concert.
[64] I’ve lived in more than 2 houses.
[65] I’ve driven on the highway/been on the highway.
[66] I’ve driven more than 40 miles in a day/been in a car that went more than 40 miles in a day.
[67] I’ve been in a car accident.
[ ] I’ve done drugs.
[68] I’ve been homesick.
[69] I’ve thrown up.
[ ] I’ve thrown up on someone.
[70] I’ve been horseback riding.
[ ] I’ve filled out more than 10 MySpace/LJ surveys
[71] I’ve spoken my mind in public.
[72] I’ve proven someone wrong.
[73] I’ve been proven wrong by someone.
[ ] I’ve broken a leg.
[ ] I’ve broken an arm.
[ ] I’ve fallen off a swing.
[74] I’ve swung on a swing for more than 30 minutes straight.
[75] I’ve watched Winnie the Pooh movies.
[ ] I’ve forgotten my backpack when I’ve gone to school.
[ ] I’ve lost my backpack.
[ ] I’ve come close to dying.
[ ] I’ve seen someone die.
[76] I’ve known someone who has died.
[77] I’ve wanted to be an actor/actress at some point.
[ ] I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth some mornings.
[78] I’ve taken something/someone for granted.
[79] I’ve realized how good my life is.
[80] I’ve counted my blessings.
[81] I’ve made fun of a classmate.
[82] I’ve been asked out by someone and I said no.
[ ] I’ve slapped someone in the face.
[ ] I’ve been skateboarding.
[83] I’ve been backstabbed by someone I thought was a friend.
[84] I’ve lied to someone to their face.
[85] I’ve told a little white lie.
[86] I’ve taken a day off from school just so I don’t go insane.
[87] I’ve fainted.
[ ] I’ve had an argument with someone about whether cheerleading is a sport or not.
[88] I’ve pushed someone into a pool.
[89] I’ve been pushed into a pool.
[90] I’ve been/am in love.

Isn't it ironic?

2006-05-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is for Schlacter...

A slide from Ender's thorax and back review reads:
•Generally premature infants are slower in closing. (Indomethican, a prostaglandin (miss spelled on p 65) inhibitor, can be given to premature infants to speed closure of a patent ductus arteriosus. Exogenous GPe1 can be used to keep a ductus arteriosus open longer than normal [e.g. transposition of great vessels]).

To think, I pay $20,000 a year to be taught by these people

Ha ha

2006-03-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

All jokes aside, today is the one and only day I will ever root for Duke...until the next time they play North Carolina.

TMI

2006-03-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

Dr. Enders, my anatomy professor: ...and spending too much time in hot tubs can lead to decreased spermatogenesis (sperm production).

Some guy in my class: What about wearing tighty whities?

Dr. Enders: No, that hasn't been shown to decrease spermatogenesis. Plenty of men who wear tighty whities go on to have perfectly normal kids...trust me.

Geez...

2006-02-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Lol, I just realized that I've ended the past two blog entries with "That's all folks!" I'm such a loser!

Did you miss me?

2006-02-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

After reading Lisa's blog, I realized I too have been a little remiss in blogging, so here are the highlights of the past few weeks:

*I've officially decided to try one of those spray-on tanning places before the med school prom so I don't look so ghostly pale. If it looks good, I'll probably use it for Jayme's wedding too!

*I've also officially decided to grow out my hair. This probably won't be complete until sometime next fall :o(

*I've started drinking ridiculous amounts of diet soda. Like 3 or 4 cans a day. I hope I don't get diabetes or something.

*I got a job for this summer - I'm going to be a student director for the Community Health Project at the med center. The perks include a "scholarship" and a month off of school during my 4th year!

*Finally, only three and a half more weeks until my biochem, physiology and cell and tissue biology classes are over and spring break begins! Of course, that also means only three and a half more weeks until finals...

That's all folks!

Just call me Mo and stick me in a nursing home

2006-02-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

So many things, I need to use bullets:

*I went to the eye doctor yesterday, and he informed that 1) I'm legally blind and 2) I have a mildly lazy left eye. What a self-esteem booster.

*This afternoon, I drove behind a minivan with the following bumper stickers:
1. My other car is a broom
2. This car belongs to a witch. All others will be toad.

*I'm seriously thinking about going into OB. This is new.

That's all, folks!

Celsius Tannery, here I come!

2006-01-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

So today at work, a friend told me that her dermatologist told her that - as long as you don't burn - going tanning (in a tanning bed, not on the beach) doesn't increase your risk of skin cancer. I'm not sure if I believe it, but I'm definitely going to use it as my excuse to start tanning again.

Help!

2006-01-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am in TOTAL FREAK-OUT MODE. I just had dinner with my new med school big sib, and she told me about the grading system for second-years. Get this:

90-100 = A
85-89 = B
80-84 = C
79 and below = FAILING!

Holy crap! This is very bad for several reasons, one of which being that I will most likely lose my "good student" car insurance discount. My GPA will also probably fall to HALF of my undergrad GPA. Not good.

She also told me about one of her classes (microbiology, I think), which has 5 tests during first semester of second year. If you fail 1 test (and remember, failing is anything below an 80), you can still pass the class. If you fail 2 tests, you can pass the class but you have to take a 2 week remedial course during your 2 week winter break (ie, you get no winter break). And the kicker: if you fail 3 or more tests, you have to REPEAT YOUR SECOND YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL!

All I can say is if I'd know all of this during undergrad, I'd probably be in pharmacy school right now. How depressing.

Word to the wise

2006-01-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

Today in class, a doctor told us about this 450-lb lady who hadn't had her period in 2 years but came into the ER with cramping that came and went every few minutes. Two hours later, she had a baby.

Take home message: Don't get so fat that you don't even realize you're pregnant until your due date.

Um, what?

2006-01-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here's an exerpt from my anatomy notes on the large intestine:

9 ) Digital Rectal Examination of prostate gland can be performed through the anal canal because of the positional relationships and the experienced sensitivity of the examining finger (the latter of course assumes the reflexive crushing squeeze of the examinee’s anal sphincter has not reduced the finger’s sensitivity to that of a mere wooden stick).

Just thought I'd share...

Gifts, Meagan-style

2005-12-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

Like Meagan, I though I'd show everyone the gifts I got for Christmas/my 23rd birthday in photos!

Of course, my major gift was this:

Isn't it cute? Santa also brought me this:

If you can't tell, it's Sarah Jessica Parker's new scent, Lovely. It was quite a surprise, as I didn't even know it existed :o) Up next:

One the left is a JayDoc snow globe from my niece, Erin, and on the right is a Doctor Duck from my uncle Steve. Again, these were fun surprises :o) Now, for something practical:

It's those hangers from Target that don't let your tank tops fall on the floor! Aren't they great! I asked for 150 of them so all the hangers in my closet would match. Is that weird? All right, now for my favorite kind of gifts:

Gift cards galore! Yay! Alright, that's enough bragging. I hope everyone else had a happy holiday (and if you had a birthday, a happy birthday too!)

Did you miss me?

2005-12-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I just now saw that it's been a month since I've posted anything. Holy crap.

So we're in our second week of finals, and let me tell you - they aren't going so well. I haven't failed any, but I've come VERY close. We only have one left (anatomy, on Friday morning), and I have to do well on it b/c I'm on the borderline. So how am I preparing for it? By updating my facebook profile and blogging at midnight. Yeah, I'm screwed.

On a happier note, we're leaving for our road trip on Friday! I have a few goals for this trip:
a) Engage in lots and lots of girl talk, bad music, and raunchy road trip games
b) Get updated on all the latest KU/AGD/apt 4B7 gossip
c) Forget about my med school woes, most likely at a Louisiana bar
d) Take an ungodly number of pictures
e) Use one of those pictures to update my facebook picture (I know, graduation was like 7 months ago)

Ok, I think that's enough procrastination/time-wasting for one night. I'll leave with this medical fact of the day: the lower limb is boring.

When you're dumb, you're dumb

2005-11-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

And the saga continues... So today I got two pieces of mail. Usually that makes me happy (since I hardly ever get mail) but they were both bills from a collection agency. Remember the door-to-door magazine salesmen that talked me into buying $90 worth of magazines? I decided it was a bad idea, so I tried to call and cancel but they never answered the phone and there was no way to leave a message. Thinking I'd out-smart them, I stopped payment on the checks (yes, I had to write 2 separate checks for the 2 magazines). But they screwed me again by turning the checks over to a collections agency, so I now owe $90 + $60 in fees. That's $150, people! I don't HAVE an extra $150 lying around! So I called to complain but if I don't pay within a month, they'll put me on the "people who write bad checks" list and it will go on my credit report, so I have to pay. This sucks. And it goes to show that, yes, I really am the dumbest person I know.

Now, to cheer myself up, I made some lists!

Things I'm really liking right now:
*pears
*Gilmore Girls
*rice cakes
*that song by the Veronicas
*South Beach Diet frozen dinners
*grape nuts stirred into yogurt (crunchy!)

Things I'm not liking:
*people who workout on ellipticals but don't use the arm things
*people who don't blog (aka everyone but Meagan)
*AGD taking it's dear ass time deciding whether or not they're going to finish building the stupid new house
*all my classes
*tests
*door-to-door salesmen

That's all!

Merry Christmas!

2005-11-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

95.7 was playing Christmas music today and I listened to it for like 3 hours and it was AWESOME!

That's all I had to say!

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

"Watch out for all the stupid kids tonight"
-my mom, who works with kids four days a week

Just say no to facial hair

2005-10-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

For some reason, everything was really funny today. Here are the highlights:

1. My biochem professor referred to a child en utero as "Freddy the fetus"

2. My physiology professor wrote absolute nonsense on the board, then Jenny and I took a picture of it on my cell phone

3. I found this lovely photo on the internet:

This was taken at the Mustache and Wig party (see #4) after our latest block of tests (which I missed b/c I wanted to spend some time w/ my long-lost friends in Lawrence). The guy in the back w/ his mouth open is Aaron, who was apparently TANKED. So tanked that he named his liver "Lenny" and started talking about him. Or to him, I'm not sure.

4. And last but not least, I went to this and realized just how crazy the KU SOM Class of 2009 really is...don't forget to look at the mustaches! My favorite quote is "Just when I thought the female gender couldn't possibly dislike me any more...I grow as a mustache." My thoughts exactly, but no offense to Nick. Like I told Jenny, guys with mustaches just remind me of 40-year-old men in the 80's...

Done and done!

2005-10-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Alright, after reading Meagan's comment and talking with friend whose first words about the situation were "Oh my gosh, are you sure you didn't get scammed," I put a stop payment on the checks (yes, I had to write two checks for the two different magazines) and I'm calling the company tomorrow to officially cancel the subscriptions. You'd have thought I would have learned my lesson after the whole car warranty ordeal last spring, but apparently not!

I don't even read magazines!

2005-10-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

I just bought $85 worth of magazines from two somewhat-cute door-to-door salesmen trying to earn a trip to Cancun or something - why can't I say no to anything??? I need help!!!

I know what you're thinking - don't even go there.

One last thing - one of them looked at the picture of Lauren and Jayme at formal and said "Gosh, you have really cute friends." Doesn't that make you two feel special? :o) And then I replied, without even thinking, "They're both engaged." Haha, whoops!

My new favorite movie!

2005-10-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I know Meagan will probably make fun of me for this, but I saw In Her Shoes this weekend and loved it! Of course my favorite part was when they were watching Sex and the City and Carrie says something about lubricant and Shirley MacLane spits out her cosmopolitan! It was a little on the long side, but it held my attention so I didn't care.

In other news, we have our first anatomy test on Friday and I am TOTALLY freaked out. I've made a study schedule and I should be pretty well prepared if I stick to it, but I usually fall behind so cross your fingers that I don't! Also, we have a phys test on Monday, which sucks b/c 1) I probably won't really start studying for it until Friday night (yes, I'll be studying on Friday AND Saturday night this weekend - like I had any other plans, but anyway...) and 2) I'll probably do really bad on it. Oh well, I can redeem myself later in the semester.

And finally - I picked out a Halloween costume! I'm going as a cowgirl (again), but this year will be better b/c I got a sheriff's badge and handcuffs! (Lauren, you can borrow them over Thanksgiving if you want, wink wink!)

Jesus loves Vegas

2005-10-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I was just partaking in my new favorite thing to do when I'm bored and Meagan, Lauren, and Jayme haven't posted anything new: go to blogger.com and read a few random blogs. This was by far the best one (she uses fabulous Australian words like "lasses" and spells favorite "favourite," and apparently in Australia "join the train" means "join the crowd"). And her blog led me to this, which is also quite fabulous! Here are some of my favorites:

Psych Majors Are Crazy In Bed (right Jayme? j/k)
I Facebooked Your Mom (reminds me of a friend who had "I know you're mad at me because I was up poking your girlfriend all night" on his message board)

I also liked some of the raunchy ones (you know me) but I'll keep it clean and let you look up those yourself...

Warning: This post is kind of boring...

2005-10-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

I meant to write a long post as a study break but then I went through an online album of wedding pictures (a friend from good old Blue Valley who married her high school sweetheart, how cute!) so I don't have very much time. Anyway, last week sucked but this week is much better. Next week I have two tests, so that week will suck too, but then in just four short weeks it will be Thanksgiving break! Yay! And then three weeks after that it will Christmas break! Double yay! And then I will have made it through 1/8 of my medical school career, or 1/4 of the sucky part of my medical school career. Holy crap.

Anyway, today has been pretty boring, but I have a new plan to review anatomy while I work out so that's kind of exciting. At least to me. And I'm having mom over for dinner tonite so that will be fun! I'll be serving spaghetti and smoked sausage...yum!

Ok, this post is officially getting boring (although not as boring as my classes this morning) so I'll stop while I'm ahead...sort of.

And ps - JAYME AND LAUREN NEED TO BLOG so I have something else to read during study breaks besides Meagan's blog (no offense Meagan).

On campus with nothing to do...

2005-10-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today I got to class and everyone was standing in the hall. Why? Because it was flippin 90 degrees in the lecture hall! We went ahead and had our 8am class b/c a guest was lecturing, but halfway through it the powerpoint projector overheated (big surprise) so they cancelled class for the rest of the morning! I could go home if I didn't have to dissect at 1pm, but I probably wouldn't get anything done so it's good that I'm still on campus. However...I now have nothing to do. Oh well, I'm enjoying it!

ps - good luck to Jayme on her personality test today!

I love it! I love it! I love it!

2005-09-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

McFunnies

2005-09-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

So I was looking on Laura's Jason's blog and found these fabulous lists:

Soup Blurbs

Pick Up Lines Used By Mario

And last but not least, my personal favorite, and the one on Jason's blog:

Things Koala Bears Would Say

Desperate Housewives is back!

2005-09-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, I just finished watching the season premier of Desperate Housewives and it was WONDERFUL! That's all I wanted to say.

Quick study break

2005-09-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm rapidly making a review for Wednesday's HPDP (short for Health Promotion, Disease Prevention but called "hip dip" but all of us insiders, haha) midterm. I'd like to get it done before dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at 4:30 (that right, 4:30) but I don't think that'll happen.

On another note, I, like Jayme, am starting to freak out about my anatomy class. This morning, I spent and hour and a half on 20 minutes of lecture. That's WAAAY too long, so I need to change my study strategy. Especially since I have 4 hours and 40 minutes of lecture to do before all I'm caught up. Good grief.

PS - for anyone who reads my blog and doesn't know what's going on (I'm guessing that's no one, but just in case...) one of my best friends is stuck in Lake Charles, LA - she survived Hurricane Rita but we're not sure if she has food, water (ironic, huh), etc. - please think happy thoughts for her.

Blogging - shortens available study time by 15 minutes

2005-09-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, the final grades are in - I did ok on two of the tests and really good on the 3rd one, which is ironic because I spent WAY less time studying for the 3rd one, but whatever.

Now for my "medical fact of the day." We were talking about the risks associated with CTs, MRIs, etc. and the professor gave us some stats on "Lifespan-shortening associated with various activities." Some were interesting (ex. medical x-rays shorten lifespan by 6 days) but others were just plain funny - here are the highlights:

*Drinking diet drinks - shortens lifespan by 2 days (Each? If so, Jayme's in big trouble!)
*Average job - shortens lifespan by 74 days (I knew I should have been a housewife! But wait, I'd need a husband...)
*Job with radiation exposure - shortens lifespan by 40 days (What?)
*Drowning - shortens lifespan by 41 days (But wouldn't you only do this once? And even if you survived, wouldn't you want to stay away from water? Or does this mean that the average drowning victim is 74 years and 324 days old? Hmmm...)
*Unmarried (male) - shortens lifespan by 3500 days (9 1/2 years) (Holy cow, my brother better get on the stick! And that better just be for males...)

Mid test block update!

2005-09-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, two tests down, one to go. Biochem sucked, (I did a letter grade worse than last time, but isn't it nice that I already know my grade?) but - surprisingly - CTB sucked less, although I have yet to find out my grade on that one, so we'll see...

On a more positive note, I've discovered a great new way to study - I read my notes out loud while dancing around my apartment! Seriously, it's great because it keeps me going at a fast pace and it's much more fun! And hopefully I'm burning a few calories, although the chocolate chips I'm eating are probably counteracting that (hey, I needed some caffeine!)

Ok, back to studying. The test is at 9am, so I've never looked forward to 11am on a Tuesday morning more in my entire life! Wish me luck again!

Blogging...my favorite form of procrastination

2005-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm at the library and desperately need a study break so here were the lightlights of my day:

1. So Jayme and I went to Costco this afternoon (sorry Lauren, it was the one in Lenexa but you're out of town so it doesn't matter). We were eating pizza and chatting when this totally weird guy overhears Jayme say, "My professor is such a jerk" or something to that extent, and he BURSTS out laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Then, he continues to laugh for a good five minutes. Then, Jayme and I couldn't stop laughing because A) her comment wasn't that funny, and B) we couldn't believe that he was still laughing. Ok, I hope that made sense, so in case it didn't you can probably read about the same story on Jayme's blog.

2. Earlier, my grandma called because she and grandpa were about to eat dinner and they wanted to know if I wanted to eat with them. At 3:45 in the afternoon. No thanks.

I think that's it, but I might have to post something this evening if I need another study break. I have two tests tomorrow (Biochem and CTB (Cell and Tissue Bio)) and one test on Tuesday (Physiology). Hopefully I'll do better on these tests, if only because I won't be cramming until 3:00 in the morning (yes, I did that last time - I hadn't stayed up that late to study for a test since sophomore year!). Nope, my plan for the rest of the evening is:

5:45pm - leave library
6:00pm - make and eat dinner (chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes)
7:30pm - finish studying biochem
9:00pm - go to Sonic for a break
9:30pm - last-minute studying for CTB
10:30pm - take a break and get ready for bed
11:00pm - last-minute studying for Biochem
midnight - go to bed

Wow, now that you know more than you ever wanted to know about my schedule, I'd better get back to studying. Wish me luck!

Broccoli? Vile weed!

2005-09-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is an email that was sent to my kumc.edu account:

From:
Cosmo Kramer
Date:
Thursday - September 15, 2005 10:32 AM
Subject:
A Festivus for the rest of us!!!

what not to do in surgery (8192 bytes)
[View] [Open] [Save As]

The Summer of George may be over… But have no fear…. SWIG (Seinfeld Watching Interest Group) is here to help you de-stress! We’ll be having our first “meeting” of the year on Thursday, September 22, in Wahl Hall West. Come take a break to watch a couple classic episodes, get some free lunch, and yada yada until you have to go back to class.~Cosmo

It cracked me up :o) I'll definitely be at that "meeting."

PS - I just realized that you can't open the attachment unless you have a KUMC username and password, so I'll just tell you that it's a picture of Jerry and Kramer dropping a piece of candy while watching surgery :o)

Do the chickens have large talons?

2005-09-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I discovered the worst thing about living alone: I have to smell my own milk to see if it's gone bad! I always made Mom do it when I lived at home, and we went thru milk so fast at the sorority it never had a chance to go bad! It was so gross! But I drank it anyway because I'm cheap and really wanted some chocolate milk.

Oh, and I've also discovered the worst thing about my apartment: the smoke alarm sometimes goes off when I'm in the shower. It's not like I'm taking hour long showers or anything! I'm not even taking half hour showers! But lately it's been going off a lot, and seeing that I'm usually getting ready at 6:30am I'm sure my neighbors hate me. Anyway, I'm going to try closing the bathroom doors but if that doesn't work I don't know what I'm going to do...

Sorry this was such a downer - other than those two things, I had a pretty good day! I can't think of a medical tidbit of the day except that physiology has gone from my most favorite class to my least favorite class in the course of a week, thanks to Dr. Levine...flippin moron!

Gilmore Groupie

2005-09-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I meant to be really productive tonight and get lots of stuff done, but I ended up just watching a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. One of them was the season opener (I thought it was in two weeks - who knew?) - it was pretty pretty good, but Rory and Lorelai are fighting and I hate when TV characters fight so I'll be happier when they've made up, Rory is back at Yale, and Lorelai and Luke are married. And yes, I do realize that it's just a TV show.

I love TV!

2005-09-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great! I got a lot done - so much so that I'm taking the rest of the night off to watch Desperate Housewives and something else (I'm not sure what, though - my Now Playing list is pretty pathetic: a few Law and Orders, a Frasier, and way too many Everybody Loves Raymonds). Speaking of TV, I can't wait until the fall season starts in two weeks! Specifically, can't wait to see Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls (lame, I know, but Lorelai proposed and Rory dropped out of Yale in the last episode!), and Joey. That's enough for now :o)

By the way, Lauren and Jayme - if you're reading this, Meagan's right - you need to blog!

Don't you miss Doogie Houser?

2005-09-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, the two best parts of my day were as follows:

1. While describing how Viagra works, one of my biochem professors described a penis as becoming "hard." Not erect. Hard. It was like he was talking dirty with his wife or something. Ewww.

2. Mom and I went to El Mez's twin for dinner, and we saw a baby wearing glasses. I swear, this kid couldn't have been more than 2 years old, and she was wearing a pair of thick ol' glasses. It was very Doogie Houser.

Also, I skipped my first class today! Actually, I skipped 2 hours of the same class. But I spent the time studying so it wasn't really that exciting.

Anyway, my plans for the weekend are to have my eyebrows waxed, study, make pina coladas with my new med school friends, have lunch with my entire family (including all 5 nieces and nephews - yea!), study, and then...study some more! Fun fun fun!

Go to bed already!

2005-09-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

I just wanted the record to show that, even though I claim to be busy studying all the time, I just spent the last 30 minutes looking up crap on facebook (damn people from my high school getting married) and taking online personality tests. In case you're curious, here are my results:

What Breed of Dog Are You?
Ashley, you're a Bernese Mountain Dog!
No bones about it, you're a good-hearted, people-loving Bernese Mountain Dog. Down-to-earth and loyal, no one works or plays harder than you do. You put your nose to the grindstone when it really counts, but you never neglect your social calendar.

PS - Jayme, the guy I told you about is on facebook but I'm not giving you his name because you'll make fun of him (bad picture)

PSS - Lauren, what kind of dog were you?

PSSS - If anyone else is interested in finding out what kind of dog they are, here is the link :o)

Study break

2005-09-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I'm not doing very well at blogging everyday, but oh well. Actually, I'm only posting something because I need a break from my favorite class (if you keeping track, that's physiology, and it's only my favorite because it has some math). Anyway, not much happened today. The highlight of my day was when Jayme called and told me that she'd been walking around campus with a hole and part of a Lil' Debbie zebra cake on the butt of her jeans (hey Jayme, if you're not going to blog, I am :o). Oh, and mom and I ate at a Chinese buffet for dinner, but it wasn't anything special - the best part was the Chinese donuts, which were basically small sopapillas, but they were free so I didn't complain. Ok, that's all I can think of. Wish me luck tomorrow - I'm taking a history from a "standardized patient," aka a random guy off the street who gets paid to act like he's sick. It shouldn't be too hard - I don't even think we're being graded - but it's videotaped so I'll probably be a little nervous. Anyway, wish me luck!

Much ado about nothing

2005-08-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I'm not doing a very good job of blogging every day, but it's ok because not that much has happened in the past week. I made it through my tests on Friday, and I did better than I had expected on both of them so that's good. Also, I took my car in to be repaired yesterday so I'm now driving a rental car - it's a 2005 Honda Civic but I think my 2001 Civic is way cuter so I'll be happy to get it back later this week, and you can bet I'm going to be VERY careful w/ it from now on. Of course, I said that after my accident last semester, but oh well. And finally - I'm considering making my very own "101 Things About Me" list, although it might be a while. I'm also considering making it either "101 Things You Never Knew About Me" or "101 Unique Things About Me," but both of these are problematic because a) knowing the people who will read this list (aka my closest friends), it will be hard to think up 101 things that they don't know about me, and b) of course, nothing is completely unique to anyone. Anyway, I'll post it when it's done.

And my car insurance just keeps going up...

2005-08-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm back. Did you miss me? I didn't think so.

So this weekend was fun. Actually it didn't start out too bad - I learned how to measure blood pressure, pulse, and breathing rate, and I was on my way to dinner with a new friend from school when...I ran into a pole in the parking lot. In my defense, the pole was parallel to my rear bumper so when I backed out like normal, I ran into it because I was busy looking behind me to make sure there weren't any cars coming. That probably doesn't make sense, so here's the take home message: I didn't just run straight into a pole, and KU's parking lots suck.

Sunday wasn't much better - I didn't hit anything, but I spent a good 8 hours studying. I have two tests on Friday (Biochem and Cell and Tissue Bio) so I've been spending all my free time in the library. I'm now an expert on proteins, membranes, enzymes, embryonic development, and cell biology. Well, almost. Apparently 1/2 the class usually fails the first block of tests so I'm going for a satisfactory (which is a C, but the med school doesn't use letter grading, so they give you superiors, high satisfactories, satisfactories, low satisfactories, and unsatisfactories). Anyway, wish me luck!

Inquiring minds want to know...

2005-08-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, last night I helped out at Pref with the likes of Whitney, Rachel, Jeanette, Wendler, Hardacre, Zarate, and McDaniel...I hope I'm not forgetting anyone. Oh, and some older alums and eager-beaver parents. It was absolutely gorgeous! There were vases upon vases of red and buff roses, lots of little chocolates and candies, and a giant chocolate fountain - yum! My favorite part was when the recruiters and PMs left and the alums got to eat all the food! It was definitely the most fun I've ever had at a recruitment event. We all got to talking, and apparently half the house got engaged over the summer! I guess it was only 5 people, but still! Here they are, in no particular order:

Jayme (duh)
Liz (also duh)
Zarate (the older Zarate, that is...the younger one is past her due date!)
Hunziker
Bowers
Potter (Steph, not Meika)

Apparently the last two caught everyone off guard. Bowers not only got engaged, she also dropped...out of school! (Speaking of dropping out of stuff, several people were like, "Did you hear all the people who dropped out b/c they got engaged - Jill, Jayme..." and I was like "Wait, Jayme didn't drop b/c she got engaged - she dropped way before she got engaged." But now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know if they think Jayme dropped out of the house or out of school...oops. Jayme, you might want to talk to someone in AGD and clear that up) And Potter got engaged only four weeks after meeting her fiance! Apparently they met, met each other's parents, and got engaged right before he was shipped off to Iraq. Holy bananas! Anyway, no word yet on Raven, Christina, Julie, or any of those other people with ultra-serious relationships.

Geez, I really didn't mean for this to be so gossipy (sp?) but it was just so nice being in the loop for an evening - I couldn't help myself! On the calendar for today: JayDoc training (learning to take vitals at a community clinic), homework, and then dinner with my new med school friends :o)

Mighty Mouse antibodies?

2005-08-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, not much to write about except tonight I'm going to hold drink trays or whatever with Shelley (my half and sorority sister, isn't that special) at AGD - er, I mean SAE. Hopefully they're having a good recruitment, but I wouldn't be surprised if our numbers are really low this year (remember Zeta..."Go Zeta Tau Alpha to-day, BYYYYYE!!!!!") At least our girls know the appropriate length to hold out the y in "bye."

I didn't learn anything fun today but here's today's medical tidbit: Scientists have mixed different parts of mouse and human antibodies to create new antibodies (called chimeras) for antigens on the surface of some cancer cells, and they've been found that they help fight breast cancer. Kind of creepy, but hey - whatever works...

Hot brothers and role-playing...wait, that came out wrong

2005-08-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, each day seems to be better than the day before, but my first block of tests is coming up (a week from tomorrow!) so I have a feeling that next week won't be so good :o(

On a happier note, I met a fellow med student who lives in my apartment complex (finally! I was beginning to think I was the only one) and I found out that one of my new friends is Chris Kaufman's older sister! It was so funny - we were talking about KU (she was a senior when I was a freshman) and she mentioned that I might know her younger brother. I was like, "Yes I know him!" Ok, maybe I don't know him, but I know of him. Anyway, I also told her that I know about 50 girls who have crushes on him. I'm sure she was glad to hear that - probably about as glad as Meagan always is when I mention how much I love Eddie. Aww, Eddie... Anyway, it was a fun, "isn't it a small world" kind of moment :o)

In other fun news, we practiced taking medical histories this afternoon in a fake clinic in the School of Nursing. We each had to pick a role to play, but we didn't look at the roles beforehand so I played a body builder (yeah, that's about as far from the truth as you can get). The funniest was a guy who played a 16-year-old girl who wanted to get on the pill. When the student doctor asked "her" if she'd had a pelvic exam before, "she" said, "uhh, I don't know." All of us girls were like, "uhh, that means you've never had one, because if you had, you'd know..."

And on that note, I'm off to study.

Meetings + Free Food = More Fun!

2005-08-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Not much to say today, except I forced myself to get involved in a student group - the Medical Student Assembly. I'm not sure what they do but I was elected to be their secretary!

Among the various differences between KU and KU Med, I think the most important is the fact that, at KU Med, they have free food at every meeting! For instance, I had Chinese food at the MSA meeting, and this afternoon I had Jimmy John's at a Family Medicine Interest Group meeting. Imagine how much more fun meetings at KU would have been if they had free food! It certainly would have made chapter meetings more fun! Or maybe just less boring...

Wow...

2005-08-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

This could be the dorkiest thing I've ever seen. Here's a little background info: ATP-ase is a protein that acts like a motor to create ATP. We were talking about it this morning in CTB (Cell and Tissue Biology), and the professor showed us a movie simulation of the protein in action. Then, he showed us the other movie, which I can only describe as four incredibly dorky graduate students dancing around in a laboratory pretending to be the various subunits that make up an ATP-ase. And just when I thought I was the dorkiest person alive...

Oh my gosh!

2005-08-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

I was looking on the Must Love Dogs review page that was attached to Meagan's blog and I just realized why I recognized Diane Lane's father's trashy girlfriend - she was Rizzo (sp?) in Grease! Duh!

That reminds me - I've been watching a lot of Saved by the Bell: The College Years lately, and guess who was one of Lane's dates? Professor Lasky! Am I the only one who knows what I'm talking about?

I know this is boring, but just one more: guess who was Topanga's mom in the episode of Boy Meets World where Cory and Topanga get married? My favorite desperate housewife, Marcia Cross! Actually, I don't really have a favorite - I love them all! But according to ABC, I'm most like Lynette, which means that I lose it when I'm stressed. Yep, that's pretty accurate!

An insult to dog-lovers like myself...

2005-08-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's now Monday afternoon and I'm feeling much better, even after sitting through four hours of lecture this morning :o) Thanks to everyone (all two of you) who gave me some encouragement - it was much needed and very effective!

So Mom and I went to see "Must Love Dogs" on Saturday night. It was...interesting. Of course Mom loved it, but that was pretty much a given. I, on the other hand, found myself thinking about one of Meagan's posts, in which she calls the movie "Whore-iblek," so I basically had no chance of liking it - especially after it ripped off "When Harry Met Sally"'s "how we met" scenes! The nerve! The movie did have some high points, though - like when Diane Lane jumped out of a boat, fully-clothed. Or when Lane and John Cusack made out in the middle of a grocery store...no wait, that was a low point. A very low point.

Alright, that's enough for now. I'm planning on blogging everyday during my study break so get ready for lots of mundane details and random thoughts :o)

And last but not least, here is my medical tidbit of the day: believe it or not, some embryologist named one of the genes that directs embryological development "Sonic hedgehog" because his sons were obsessed with Sonic the hedgehog when he discovered the gene. Isn't that ridiculous? If I had to name a gene right now, I'd name it either "Starbuck's Mocha Light Frappuccino" or "Mini Caramel Rice Cakes." Yum!!!

Week #1 is officially over, thank goodness!

2005-08-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Man, this has been the weirdest week. Monday was pretty bad, Tuesday through Thursday were ok, but today was REALLY bad. I sat through four lectures this morning, and I understood 1/2 of the first one (biochem), none of the second one (embryology), 1/2 of the third one (physiology), and by the fourth one (cell biology) I was so upset I could hardly pay attention. That, along with feeling like I don't have any friends at the med center (and very few in KC), pretty much threw me into a mild depression. I ended up driving to Mom's house after class and pretty much bawling in her lap. Seriously, I hadn't felt that bad since freshman year when Christian broke up with me and I realized that I hadn't made any friends at KU. Anyway, after a lot of talking with Mom, I decided to study for a little bit and then take a break for the rest of the night.

Sorry this post has been such a downer. If anyone has any words of wisdom or encouragement, please post a comment! :o)

In the words of Janice...oh my god

2005-08-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

So med school started yesterday. To give you an idea of what I've gone through in the last two days, here's a brief list:

1. Sat and took notes through 5 hours of lecture on Monday (ok, so two of those hours were just going over syllabi, but it was still class!)
2. Spent 2 hours typing the notes from 1 hour of lecture
3. Found out that a friend from work is getting an annulment (sp?) b/c her new husband is cheating on her
4. Spent another 2 hours typing the notes from 30 minutes of lecture
5. Called my mom while crying uncontrollably
6. Got phone calls from each of my three best friends (aww, don't you guys feel special?)
7. Found out that one of my best friends is getting married on the same day as one of my former best friends
8. Decided I'd had enough and went to bed
9. Sat through 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion
10. Spent 2 hours studying (rather than typing) 5 hours of lecture

And that brings us up to the present!

PS - Here's my "medical tidbit of the day": the peptide prolyl cis-trans isomerase is a chaperone protein that assists proteins in changing conformations around proline residues. Yeah, that's the sort of crap I have to learn...

Friday night with Benson and Stabler

2005-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, so it's Friday night and I'm sitting in my apartment watching reruns of Law & Order: SVU - what's wrong with this picture? Nothing - if I'm a 40-year-old. But no, I'm 22 - which officially makes me...pathetic. You would think that I'd enjoy having nothing to do on my last weekend before school starts, but no. I really miss the Friday nights when I would hang out at Meagan and Lauren's apartment. It didn't matter if we were eating Chili's chips and salsa and drinking pina coladas (sp?) or just doing homework and making the occasional run to Munchers...it was fun, and I miss it. Speaking of Meagan and Lauren, I talked w/ Jayme the other night and I realized that I am totally out of the loop! You guys need to blog in more detail! Or at least blog something (ahem...Lauren...).

Anyway, on a cheerier note (is that a word?), orientation ended today! Also, I was officially matriculated into med school today, which just means that I officially started. There was a little ceremony in which each new student was cloaked with a spiffy new white coat (although it was hip-length instead of the traditional knee-length b/c we're only students), and afterward we had cheese and crackers in the Land of Lisa (aka School of Nursing building). And last but certainly not least, I finally found my locker! Yes, we have lockers in med school (two, in fact - one for your books, backpack, etc...and the other for your microscope) it took me flippin forever to find my book locker! But I finally did, and I also know where my classroom is (we only have one, so we stay in our seats and the professors come to us - it sounds boring but it beats trying to run across campus in 10 minutes) so I'm officially ready for my first day of school on Monday! If I don't blog before then, wish me luck!

Mission: Orientation

2005-08-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well well, it's only been two days since my last (and first) post, but I feel like I've been through a lot! I've had two days of orientation at KU Med, and in those two days I've gotten a haphazard tour of the med center (which would have been more beneficial had I been paying attention), tons of pamphlets that I will most likely never read, and more advice about classes and books than I can keep track of. Apparently everyone goes to class the first few weeks, but by the end of the semester only 1/3 are still going. Call me crazy but I have a feeling I'll be in the 1/3 that goes to every class, especially if it gets me out of reading the books. And speaking of books, I bought them (all $700 worth) before orientation but am now hearing that some are pretty much useless. I guess that was true with a lot of my undergrad classes - I just didn't know it beforehand like I do now. So now I'm trying to decide which books to take back, which books to buy or borrow from 2nd years, and which books to buy and keep forever and ever. Decisions, decisions.

Another weird thing is that our weekly schedule isn't set in stone (i.e. MWF 10:30am-11:30am). We pretty much have class everyday from 8am to noon, but the order isn't always the same. For example, next Monday I have biochem for 2 hours, than an hour each of physiology and anatomy, but the rest of the week is totally different. I guess it's not a big deal since all 175 of us are taking the exact same classes - it's just kind of annoying.

The best thing so far is that everyone seems really friendly. I know that won't last forever, but it's certainly nice right now! I've been spending most of my time with a friend from high school (Megan), but I've met a lot of new people and the 2nd years tell us that we'll know almost all of the 1st and 2nd years by the end of the semester. I even chatted a little bit with Greg, which was weird but will probably get less awkward as time goes by.

Alright, that's enough for now. Don't get used to these long posts - they'll probably get a lot shorter once school starts :o)

My first post!

2005-07-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Alright, here is my first post on blog #2. First, I want to apologize to Meagan for not officially naming my blog "Gleeba." I was going to, but then I looked up "gleeba" in the dictionary and it's not even a word! So, instead of "Gleeba," I decided to go with "Ashley's Blog," which suits me well because I'm neither creative nor original, and I wanted my blog to be just as plain Jane as I am.

I did, however, have to come up with a different URL because www.ashleysblog.blogspot.com is taken by a 14-year-old girl in Florida (and it's pretty darn funny - check it out). Oddly enough, www.gleeba.blogspot.com is also taken, although the blogger definitely didn't get the name from Friends. And in an ironic twist that I didn't notice until just now, her username is Plain Jane. Weird. Anyway, I couldn't think of anything else, so I took some liberties with the spelling (although techincally it's not even a word) and created up with my very own blog, www.gleebuh.blogspot.com.

So med school orientation starts tomorrow. I'm still kind of nervous (espcially since I don't see Lindsay from the roof-top gang on any of the class lists, so I'm starting out with fewer friends than I thought) but I've been so bored for the past week that I'm kind of looking forward to meeting people and having stuff to do. The low point was on Friday night: after going out to eat with Mom and Uncle Steve, I proceeded to watch 5 hours of television (2 hours of Felicity, and hour of Gilmore Girls, and 2 hours of Law and Order: SVU) before going to bed at 11pm. It was pathetic. Last night looked like it was going to be a repeat of Friday until I called Mom and talked her into going to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with me. Yes, this was also pathetic, but at least I got out of the apartment.

Right now, I'm watching "Short Circuit" (remember that one?) while waiting for Jayme to stop by my apartment on her way to pick up a new TV at Best Buy. Then, I'm eating out with Mom (are we seeing a trend?) and spending the rest of the evening relishing in the fact that I have nothing to do. Until 9am tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!