Gone ... to the Gym

So every year I make a bunch of resolutions but never seem to keep them. This year I decided not to make any and yet, for some reason, I felt inspired to join the school's gym this morning. We get a foot of snow dumped on us, so, logically, I decide to get up early, shovel myself out and go to the gym. Despite the weather, it felt good to get out and exercise. I haven't had time since clinics started a year ago so I hope that I keep this up. Maybe I'll slim down by graduation, that would be nice.

Yesterday I had my first (and hopefully last) photo shoot. You can catch my great look in the law school's spring edition of the alumni magazine, complete with interview. Yep, I'm a celeb ... "This morning I caught up with Lena for coffee at the vet school coffee cart. She seemed relaxed in her white coat complete with stethoscope and I just had to ask ...." ;-)

Anyway, hope you are all doing well despite the weather and economy. I've high hopes that Obama might come through on some of his talk; what a concept for a president!

Quote of the Post:
Step into any supermarket and you're accosted with stupidity. Has anyone ever wondered why magazines feature the same celebrities at every single checkout counter? Why not a magazine about finding a cure for leukemia? Or a magazine about solving world hunger?
- The Genius Club

I PASSED BOARDS!!!

I just found out that I passed the NAVLE, North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. This means I'll be a licensed doctor when I graduate, one who can actually write prescriptions, do surgery and charge money to see patients! Yep, a real doctor. I really thought that I was going to fail since I never actually studied. There was too much going on with clinics and I had tough rotations right before the test. I did manage to complete about 25 vetprep questions, but seeing as your suppose to do about 2000 questions two times each to study, I was a little short. I guess sitting through all those lectures, I learned something. A thank you to the great professors at my school for that! Well, now I just have to reconquer the MPRE and learn to conquer the NY and Mass bar exams.

Quote of the Post:
Personally, I have always felt the best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can't ask his patients what is the matter — he's got to just know.
- Will Rogers

Australia - Here I Come

One of the places I've always wanted to go is Australia! It's a country, continent and island complete with animals and plants like no where else. I even have family there; my uncle and his kids are there in the Brisbane area so I'll have a home base for my month of exploration. The problem is there are too many things I want to see - the Great Barrier Reef, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, the Red Center/Alice Springs area and even Darwin. I think I'm going to just have to forget seeing Perth and the Western half if I'm even going to see half of what I want. Anyone who's been or knows someone there - I'd love advice and tips.



Quote of the Post:
AUSTRALIA, n. A country lying in the South Sea, whose industrial and commercial development has been unspeakably retarded by an unfortunate dispute among geographers as to whether it is a continent or an island.
- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Man in Black: You've made your decision then?
Vizzini: Not remotely. Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.
Man in Black: Truly you have a dizzying intellect.
Vizzini: Wait 'til I get going... where was I?
Man in Black: Australia.
Vizzini: Yes, Australia, and you must have suspected I would have known the powder's origin, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
- The Princess Bride

Woo-Hoo, again

So I finished clinics this week, actually Monday at 8 am (I was on-call Sunday). That probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but to me it means I get my life back! I get to decide what to do, where to go and when. Mainly I'm going to classes but if I don't feel well or want to play hooky, I can not go. I can even leave Ithaca on weekends now that I won't be on-call anymore.

As for classes, I forgot I had a floating 2 cr for an Animal Law course I took that had not been applied to either school so I only need 23 credits but with the way my schedule is shaping up it looks like I'll be taking 25 to 26 credits. Still not too bad compared to the last year. Yep, gonna be a good semester. I'm loving my law classes so far, I even understand what is going on! I'm taking Evidence, Patent Law and a clinic - working at the US Attorney's Office in Syracuse. The first week has been really nice, though it's weird, I don't know a single person in my classes. Well, one actually, a very nice 2L that my Firm (aka they might not want to be listed here) heavily recruited but she ended up choosing the competition because they have a better record of placing people at the court she wants to clerk at.

Quote of the Post:
Mr. Sheffield: Ah, Miss Fine, you seem to have listed the Queen Mother as a reference.
Fran: Lemme see ... oh, no, that's not the Queen Mother. That's my mother from Queens!
- The Nanny

Grrrr!!!

In exactly one week I return to classes and leave clinics behind! I've got about 25 credits to finish the three degrees left and I can't wait to get started ... so I can get done! As a result of finally finishing up, I'm starting to check up on things that need to get done for taking the bar exam, moving, etc. One thing I though I had gotten out of the way was the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam). I took in 3/05 and got a score that was good enough for NY and Mass (the two states I'm planning on taking the bar for). Well, it looks like it's fine for Mass still but NY changed their policy in the last few years so now the MPRE score must be taken within 3 years of taking the bar. Ugh, I hate paying for pointless tests, even more, I hate paying for, studying for and taking them twice! Well, enough ranting for the day. I'm on pathology, so I work with dead animals all day; I think it's affecting my brain and rational thought process. Only one more week, only one more week, ....

Quote of the Post:
Brennan: An autopsy on an animal is called necropsy.
Booth: Yeah, it's pretty crucial we get that straight right off the bat. Meanwhile, about the dead human being?
-Bones, The Man in the Bear

Happy New Year!

I can't believe another year is gone. The older I get, the faster they come. This is the year I finally graduate; that I'm really looking forward to. Taking the bar exam, not so much. Well, Nissa and I wish you all the best in 2009.

Quote of the Post:
Here's something off the request line from Liberty Island. We're gonna squeeze some New Year's juice from ya, Big Apple!
- Ghostbusters

Recipes

It's that time of year when we all start thinking of resolutions for the new year. One I'm hoping to keep is to do a lot more cooking now that clinics are winding down so I'm looking for recipes! I know you all have some favorites and if you could email me a few I'd love it becuase I want to try new things. Jenan, I know you are a magic wonder in the kitchen; see if you can't write a recipe for one of your masterpieces for me. ;-) Anyway, I hope you are all still enjoying some time off and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Quote of the Post:
I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I'm cooking.
- Julia Child