So I got a wild hair to 'rehabilitate' my bike this weekend, seeing as it's been sitting unused on our balcony for almost a year. I was bracing myself for the worst, but it turned out that all it really needed was air in the tires and a good wipedown with wet paper towels to remove all the caked pollen; the chain was actually still in pretty good shape. So, being me, I instantly decided to make biking my mode of transportation for the day, and ended up biking over 15 (hilly) miles -- to Cameron Village for a haircut and then to Harris Teeter for a couple of miscellaneous groceries that I forgot. Soreness and sweat aside, it wasn't a bad workout; the only problem, as I discovered after a couple of miles, was that my 'minor' gears no longer work. Not sure when that happened, but it meant I had only two options while going up all those hills: 'hard' and 'harder'. :) Therefore, I don't think I'll be spending too much more time on that bike until I can get it fixed.

Anyway, but the experiment was mostly a success... and the rest of the day is now going to be spent on the couch with the Kindle, thank you very much. :)

We're well on the way to turning the Flying Biscuit Cafe into a regular Friday morning brunch -- today we invited our friend Kelsey to go along and the three of us had a great time catching up. Very 'Sex and the City', but very fun. Among other revelations, we determined that we (a law student, pre-PA student, and little-bit-of-everything student) could, amusingly enough, be referred to as a trio of doctor, lawyer, and Indian chief. LOL.

I had a great day at work yesterday; the doctor I work for finally came back from vacation and was in a stellar mood (a sharp contrast to my usual three days of sullenness when *I* return from a great trip, LOL). The place always feels so much friendlier and more relaxed when he's there. As part of his trip, he ran the Seattle Marathon on June 27th, shooting to beat 4 hours, and ran a 3:58, which I (as a six-hour marathoner) found incredible. We'll see if I can shave it down to 5:30 in February. Anyway, it was a huge relief to be back in my regular routine, dealing with my 'regular' patients (the ones who know me, as opposed to the ones who normally see other doctors) rather than alternately filling out endless camp forms, sticking needles into struggling kindergartners, and twiddling my thumbs.

For Mom, as well as any other bargain shoppers who may appreciate this, I scored an incredible deal yesterday. I've been shopping around for an interview suit, and tried on this one at Banana Republic and loved the way it fit. The jacket was $150 and the pants were $80, meaning the total would have come to almost $250 with tax, which is about what I was prepared to spend for a good suit. The only thing I didn't love was the color; I wanted a gray or navy or pinstriped suit, not a plain black one, so I decided to wait for autumn in the hopes of scoring a different color.

Then yesterday morning I got one of my usual umpteen coupon emails from Banana Republic, which I would have immediately deleted if not for my interest in that suit. I opened the email to see the words "Mystery Discount" and a code which would get me $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $500 off an online purchase. Dubious, but willing to give it a shot, I surfed over to the website, put the suit in my online cart, entered all the required credit card information, and progressed to the next-to-last step in checkout, muttering under my breath all the while about how they suck you in and make you come this far in the process so that you're less likely to back out when you find out that all you've netted is $5.

Except... that the code was for $100.

Suddenly, a black suit didn't sound all that bad.

After a trip to the store after work to retry the suit and make sure the style numbers on the online items matched up with the ones I had tried on, I came home and reentered the code. Yep, still $100. To that discount, I added a $10 reward card that I'd been saving as well as the usual code for free shipping (that's the one store where I actually have a store credit card). Then, on a whim, I Googled "Banana Republic coupon codes" and found yet another one, for a further 10% off. So I scored that $250 suit... for a grand total of $110.

I swear, I never get this lucky. Here's hoping it lasts.

Anyway, L just left for Washington, D.C. to visit her friend Amber for the weekend, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. I'm really in the mood for a swimming workout, and there's one small section of our pool that actually is 25 yards long, but the pool has to be literally completely empty for a workout to be feasible there. I'm thinking I'll wait until dinnertime, when most people have left, and then try to go down. If I wait until tomorrow, when the usual weekend dozens of Beautiful People descend upon the area, it'll never happen.

I guess the next project is to delete some files and apps from my iPhone to make room for new stuff. I have something like eighteen updates that can't download due to lack of space. No time like the present.

Well, so here I sit in my apartment at 11:00 on Monday morning, having been sent home early from work yet again. We're entering that "dead zone" of summertime, where everyone is on vacation or at camp or otherwise entertained, and so we just don't need as many nurses (there were three of us this morning with nothing to do). Throughout May and June, we were doing a ton of camp physicals (and, therefore, filling out a mess of forms), but we're finally (dare I say it?) tapering down now. Just in time for flu shot clinics to crank up, I know, but still.

The first thing I did with my unexpected free morning was stop by the Apple Store and pick up the laptop case I've been eyeing for my new laptop, which I will be buying in just four more weeks (cue excited squeal)! I'm picky about my laptop cases anyway, and since this is the one I'll be carrying at PA school, I had to be especially thorough in figuring out what I would need. I needed a case that was 'professional' enough to go on clinical rotations and the like, but also flexible enough for me to bike with it in all weather conditions. I needed organizer pockets and enough space for some papers and accessories along with the laptop, but not so much space that the bag would be bulky and heavy. I also had to solve the problem of a 'rattling' laptop (I'm getting the smallest laptop possible, the 13-inch, but almost nobody makes laptop bags with sleeves to snugly fit a computer that size, because they can double their markets if the bags can also fit 15-inch laptops). After much research, I decided to get a blue neoprene sleeve to snugly fit the laptop, and then this Brenthaven bag to slip it all into. The neoprene adds extra padding to fill up the 'space' in the bag's laptop sleeve (not to mention, gives me extra peace of mind in case I do something clumsy), so my shiny new toy won't rattle around inside the bag, and -- one of my favorite things about it -- the bag also converts into a (surprisingly comfortable) backpack for biking purposes. There's also plenty of room for extra stuff, even a textbook if I need it (though I'm told that I'll be doing virtually everything on my laptop, and that my textbooks will mostly stay at home for study purposes). The bag also has a lifetime guarantee and is environmentally friendly. So... I think I did pretty well.

I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of the day... it's cloudy and threatening-looking outside, so I might just curl up with a book and some coffee. We'll see.

L Quote of the Week: I bought some (delicious) sorbet at the grocery store last night, made with blood oranges. L asked for a bite, and I extended the loaded spoon. She happily closed her mouth around it as I warned her, "It's blood orange, so it'll taste a little different than regular orange." She froze, mouth partly open, poised to spit, and asked me in garbled panic, "Does it have blood in it?!"

Yeah... Sweeney Todd Sorbet, that's what we eat around here...

First order of business: my cousin accepted Duke's post-doc fellowship offer, and will be arriving in the Triangle within two months! Congrats, Noah!!!

Second... I'm realizing lately exactly how much I've gotten into the American mindset of always needing something to DO. I was headed to the mailbox this afternoon (to mail the final components of my MUSC application) -- an approximate four-minute round trip -- and as the door closed behind me, I found myself briefly contemplating turning around and grabbing my iPhone. You know, just to fill up those four whole minutes by flipping through my Notes files or checking the weather.

OMG.

About 0.6 seconds later, I rolled my eyes at myself and continued on my way, but still.

So I've resolved to spend this weekend, and as many of the coming days as possible, being completely and utterly lazy, and enjoying doing NOTHING. Because the apartment is clean, my applications are in, and gosh darn it, it's the Fourth of July weekend and there's a sparkling pool outside. I see a bathing suit and a hamburger in my future.

The golden rule for this kind of thing -- according to Becky, at least -- is that one needs to accomplish just three things in a day, and then you're done. It's kind of a nice guideline. My weekdays usually follow a pattern of (1) work, (2) exercise, and (3) some random job, like organizing my file drawer or folding laundry. But on those weekend days where I feel like I'm working all day long and not really getting anything done (you know you've all been there!), that three-task concept helps me a lot.

I've been pretty good today, though:

1) Faxed my MUSC transcript requests (from work)
2) Worked on camp forms and nurse visits until lunchtime, then got to come home early
3) Finished and mailed the supplemental MUSC application
4) Fixed my bumper stickers (removed the old, added the new)
5) Went to the gym and biked for 40 minutes
6) Cleaned the apartment (laundry, dishes, general straightening)
7) Made dinner (well, OK, I haven't quite done that yet, but I'll start it as soon as L calls to say she's on the way)

Seven whole tasks! Surely that means that tomorrow can consist of (1) coffee, (2) pool, and (3) Kindle? :)

Quick update to say that I just submitted my *LAST* PA school application in this entire three-month-long process!!! Now it's just a matter of tying up all the "loose ends" that go along with it (transcripts, GRE scores, etc.) and then keeping a weather eye on the Internet to make sure all the materials make it. It's almost over, almost out of my hands... I can't believe it!

Random: I don't know how I failed to discover Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" before now, but it is amazing. I've had it on repeat all week.

Also random: want to know something that feels awesome? Working out really hard... and then jumping in the pool fully clothed.

One other small tidbit, for the domestically inclined: after months of trying, and buying all different kinds of crazy components, I finally figured out a quick, easy, cheap way to make batter for fried green tomatoes! Mix up a cup of flour, an egg, and some salt and pepper, dunk the slices in water, rub them with the flour mixture, and fry in vegetable oil, a couple of minutes on each side. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy! We made some tonight and they were great... which was good, since I ruined the last batch by trying to make them with fish-fry batter. I think I'm going to try them with some goat cheese next time and increase the yum factor.

So we're back from Charleston, and it was one of the nicest weekends we'd had in a long, long time. Usually, we come home from a supposedly "fun" weekend feeling as though we need "a vacation from our vacation"... but this time we were totally relaxed. Christine is a fantastic hostess (not to mention, she has one of the comfiest king-size guest beds on the face of the planet) and her boyfriend Joe is one of the coolest guys I know. L and I were on our own on Friday while Christine worked, so we had fried green tomatoes and seafood at a local restaurant (omg, delicious), visited MUSC's PA program (more on that in a minute), and picked up some breakfast supplies at the grocery store. When Christine got home, the three of us chatted and caught up a little, then met Joe at an out-of-the-way restaurant that just happened to have gnocchi with shrimp (yum!!!), then had after-dinner drinks at an outdoor bar. The next day, L and I made breakfast for Christine (scrambled eggs with peppers, tomatoes, and green onions, plus hash browns and veggie sausage) and then the three of us went to the beach on Isle of Palms... which was absolutely overrun by tiny crabs! I thought they were kind of cool, but L and Christine weren't amused, so we only stayed there for an hour or so before heading over to Joe's (gorgeous!) apartment and his (crab-free) pool. In the early afternoon, the girls started getting hungry, so we went back to Christine's place, showered, ate some pizza, and watched part of Juno... until we all fell asleep. When I woke up, it was late afternoon and thunderstorming (welcome to every coastal town in the Southeast) and L and Christine had gone to get groceries for dinner. When they got back, Joe came over and he and L commandeered the kitchen to make dinner (among other things, roasted red pepper bruschetta... this was a weekend for great food!) while Christine and I retired to her balcony to watch the rain and chat. When we reunited for dinner, it turned out that Christine's and my conversation had covered such mundane topics as work, school, our health, children, future plans, etc.... while L and Joe had leapt from quantum physics to anthropology to sexuality to a dozen places in between. We wrapped up the evening with wine and board games. I love it that L and I aren't the only (relative) homebodies around... most people would have been like, "yeah, dude, let's go out clubbing!" Christine and Joe aren't really into that scene either, which is one of the many reasons they're so much fun to hang around. We had way more fun playing Sorry and laughing our butts off than we would have had yelling at one another over dance-club music. I hope they come visit us up here in NC soon.

Anyway, so, MUSC. I liked it. The entire student body is only about 3200, which is microscopic after UF (50,000!) and which I think I'd enjoy. The health professions building is beautiful; the lobby is reminiscent of a Washington D.C. museum, with soaring ceilings and echoing footsteps, and the technology in the classrooms and labs is state-of-the-art. The library is similarly modern and beautiful (complete with a Wii on the top floor, "for study breaks", the guide explained with a smile), and there's a renowned children's hospital on property -- a perk for me. There aren't many opportunities for international rotations (almost everything is in SC), but there are apparently a lot of sites where exchanges have been worked out so that students can live for free for the duration of their rotations. I was told that they usually accept about 60% of their student body from within SC, and the remaining 40% are out-of-state students. Their class size is also expanding this year, up to 70 or so ("because of the economy", the guide explained... which could have meant "because the demand for PAs is so high", but which probably meant, "because the school needs money".)

As far as drawbacks, I see only two, but they're biggies: (1) living and transportation arrangements, and (2) cost. Their proposed budget, which looks pretty reasonable, totals $140,000 for the full program, and the coordinator I talked to said that almost everyone goes the route of loans; it doesn't sound like they give much aid. As for the living arrangements, well, to avoid a long, multi-stage (car plus bus) commute, one has to live in downtown Charleston, right by the school. The problem with living in downtown Charleston? See above... cost. Sigh. Anyway, we'll see. Their application cycle opens on Wednesday... I'll keep you posted.

(Oh, and I submitted my Duke application and also got confirmatory responses from UF and ECU, so I am officially done with every aspect of CASPA and the 4 schools that utilize it. MUSC is the only one left to work on.)

One last thing: I just signed up for another marathon. I'm finally sufficiently recovered from the Marine Corps Marathon that I can face doing another one. The 26.2 with Donna (the only marathon in the country solely dedicated to fighting breast cancer) takes place in my hometown, out at the beach -- part of the run is even on the beach itself -- and I think it's going to be a great experience. My dad volunteered at one of the water stations last year and brought home a bag of swag for me, and I've been wearing the shirt, rereading the brochure, and thinking it over ever since. So I took the plunge today and signed up. The thing I keep telling myself is, since it's a February race, the bulk of my training will NOT have to take place during sweltering heat (as it did last year)! :)

(I signed up for a half marathon too, in November... but that one's sort of immaterial compared to the other, since it's right here in Raleigh and only (only!) 13.1 miles. I figure I can use it as part of the training toward the full marathon.)

Guess that's all for now...

Well, I just finished my Duke supplemental application -- haven't turned it in yet, though; I'm still in the stage of letting it 'marinate' to make sure I'm satisfied with everything I've done. We're leaving for Charleston in an hour, as soon as L gets home from teaching, so if I still like it when we get back on Sunday, I'll hit the magic button.

I also got an email from Pacific today saying that they had received my CASPA, so my application is complete. Interview decisions will be emailed to us. Cross your fingers... I know it's the 'dark horse' of the pile, since it's on the West Coast, but something about that school is really drawing me to it. We'll see. I might get an interview and totally hate it. Who knows?

Speaking of visiting schools -- I'll be at MUSC tomorrow as part of our Charleston trip. I'm excited to see a school I've never been to or even seen in person. Better think of some intelligent questions to ask...

Not much else new in my life except for the fact that I will not in fact be bouncing from doctor to doctor over the coming two weeks... I'll be doing nurse visits and camp forms. Every day. And I've peeked at the prescheduled appointments, so I can say with certainty that I will be single-handedly vaccinating approximately half the kindergarten population in Chapel Hill. Sigh. Somewhere, there is an army of five-year-olds out for my blood.

Guess it's time to start loading up the car. See you all in a few days!

I'm sitting at the dining room table of a friend's house in Cary; she and her husband have gone to Greensboro for the evening (she's a CPA and there's some sort of event taking place there), and I volunteered to stay with her four-year-old daughter, Isabel. And what a charming child! Only about twenty seconds of shyness when I first walked in the door, no separation anxiety whatsoever when Mommy and Daddy left, and good as gold throughout the entire evening, with no whining or drama about anything at all. She had every detail of her evening routine down pat, from flossing her teeth to taking her multivitamin, and seemed to enjoy prompting me through it all ("And now you wrap the towel around me and pick me up like a baby and drop me on my bed and say 'boom!'"). The part that melted my heart was bedtime, when I was asking her how she wanted her lights to be (bedroom light off, hall light on, and bedroom door cracked, for the record), and she showed me, then sat up in bed and said, "And now you give me a hug and a kiss and tell me you'll see me in the morning." Which I did, and she promptly laid down, snuggled up with her blankie, smiled, and closed her eyes... and I have not heard a peep out of her ever since. Easygoing as can be... and absolutely adorable. *sigh* It was really nice to be able to just hang out and play with a child for a change, without the obligations of having to get him/her to stand on the scale, do a vision test, lie down for vaccines, etc.

In other news, I got an email from Duke today confirming that they have received my CASPA application... and linking me to their supplemental application!!! I didn't think I was going to get that email for another three or four weeks, but I got it today! It's pretty long -- sort of a less complex version of CASPA, to tell you the truth -- but there are only two additional essays and they're both very short. And after I submit it all, the only thing left will be the MUSC application (which is separate from CASPA, and will be available on July 1st). The process really is almost over; the ball really is almost in 'their' court! I am so stoked.

Also, L and I are going to Charleston this weekend to (a) spend some time with our friend Christine, (b) tour MUSC's PA program, (c) possibly go to the beach, and (d) eat the (supposed) world's best fried green tomatoes, among other escapades. Should be fun. I'll keep you posted.

Today was my last day of work for 'my' doctor until he comes back from his trip (running a marathon, among other things), which kind of stinks. I really like the routine we've established (ha, sort of like Isabel, I guess... LOL), not to mention just plain liking him as a person, and will be sorry to spend two weeks 'bouncing around' from doctor to doctor the way I did when I first got hired. It's more difficult when you don't know exactly what's expected of you... or exactly what liberties you can take (i.e. ordering vaccines ahead of time, going through baby questionnaires with parents, making 'executive decisions' as to what kinds of sore throats do and do not warrant a strep test...) Ah, well, maybe it'll be good for me. :)

I am so freakin' tired you wouldn't believe it. I haven't gotten to sleep until almost 1:30am for the past two nights, and it's catching up to me; I was hopeless today. Pretty much the only reason I'm sitting here typing this is so that my friends won't come home and find their daughter's "responsible adult" babysitter passed out on the couch in a puddle of her own drool. :)

Aha, I hear the garage door. Time to go home...

I'm starting to get really, really nervous about paying for school.

As an undergrad, I didn't have to worry -- I was an IB graduate (meaning my full in-state tuition was paid by Florida Bright Futures) as well as a National Merit scholar (meaning UF and FSU fell all over themselves to offer me even more money). Needless to say, PA school isn't going to be like that.

I've been checking out the financial aid sites for the schools I'm applying to, and almost everything is contingent on the FAFSA. Which shouldn't be a problem, because I'm no longer a dependent student, so I have pretty darn significant financial need, but what worries me is HOW the schools will fill that need... through scholarships or through more loans? ECU is pretty cheap to begin with, and UF has a ton of medical scholarships available, so I might make out pretty well even as a (now) out-of-state student... but Pacific and MUSC are oddly closemouthed on the issue of financial aid (which is rather scary) and Duke -- well, Duke is just royally pissing me off, because the College of Medicine's website has pages and pages of how the aid is calculated and awarded for their medical students, but appears to give NO internal aid to their other health professions students (PA, pharmacy, etc.) whatsoever. That's right, NONE. *angry growl*

Sigh. I've known all along that I was going to have to take out more loans; I was just hoping they wouldn't have to be in the six-digit range. What am I going to do if -- for example -- UF accepts me and offers me a sizable grant, and Duke accepts me but gives me NO aid? How important is the money aspect to me? Sometimes when I think about it, I think it's hugely important, and at other times, I feel like picking the RIGHT school is more important than picking the CHEAPEST school. I mean, I made my undergrad decision based on money... but is that a smart strategy for a *graduate* decision? I'm not sure it is. I need some input here.

Knowing that I'm finally counting down my final year before PA school makes me so happy. Depending on where I end up going, I might start in June or I might start in August, but either way, I plan to take at least a month off from work and "life" before it all begins. These programs are so rigorous that students practically have to ask permission to take a shower, let alone have a day off, so I want to make sure my "relaxation tank" is as full as it can be before I embark on that particular journey. And although I really like my job, I'm also really ready to feel like I'm "moving forward" again. I made the decision to go to PA school in January 2007, so I've been in "pre-PA" limbo ever since -- doing prerequisite courses, finding jobs to rack up medical experience, researching various programs, taking note of deadlines, writing essays, and so forth. This will have been a three-and-a-half-year "layover", and I'm ready for my next flight to arrive.

Anyway, so either April or June 2010 will be my last full month at work. As I said, Duke (which starts in August) pretty much has to be my number-one choice -- if they take me, I'd be insane to turn them down -- and I really think I meet or exceed all their expectations, judging by the website. My GPA and amount of medical experience are around the 75th percentile of their usual class makeup, and my GRE scores are even higher. That would mean an August start... but if Duke doesn't pan out, a June start would probably be more likely. No way to predict at this point.

July - submit MUSC application and Duke supplemental application

August - buy new laptop (*cue heavenly music*!!!)

September - interview at UF (if I'm lucky) and start final prerequisite course (Orgo I)

October - final deadline for all application materials to be submitted

November - interview at Duke, Pacific, and MUSC (again, if I'm lucky)

December - finish Orgo I

January - interview at ECU

February - final decisions issued (although hopefully I'll have already heard something)

March - final deadline for application decisions

April - last month at work

May - take a month OFF

June - START PA SCHOOL, if I go to Pacific or UF or Medical

or, depending on the school:

(July - take my month off)

(August - START PA SCHOOL, if I go to Duke or ECU)

Anyway, there's obviously still a long way to go. But knowing that this will definitely be my "last July" at my current job, that there is less than a year to go, is a big morale boost. The image in my head is that of a pie graph with a small slice taken out of it, which will grow larger as the days, weeks, and months roll by. Again, I truly like my current job and I've been very, very lucky to have it -- but I don't want to work for $13 an hour for the rest of my life, always being the "support player", never getting to diagnose and treat. Pardon my arrogance -- but I'm better than that. And I can't wait to prove it.