A Long Overdue Update (7/30)

Ice castle at Loon Mountain

This is my life now.

     Well, well, well. It's been quite a while since I updated this lovely blog-a-log. I knew second term would be busy and intense, especially with having classes 5 days each week, but I still wasn't quite prepared. Before I started the program, I'd been told that PA school was like drinking water from a fire hydrant. I'd thought I understood. Nope. There's nothing quite like the moment in a pharmacology or gross anatomy lecture when the professor has just listed off so many terms or drugs that it's like your brain couldn't even hear them all, let alone process their meanings and connections. You might as well forget trying to type or write anything down either because you just can't keep up. Not every lecture is like that, but when they are... oy. Strangely enough, despite being sometimes overwhelmed with everything, my classmates and I have all had to fight with apathy a bit. Coming back to school after Christmas break was a bit rough and it took a while to get back into the rhythm of studying. Luckily I'm part of a good class and most of us prefer to work as a team rather than compete all the time, so between recorded lectures, shared study guides, and helpful links shared on our class site, I think we're making it. 

Nashoba Valley in MA

     This is not say that this term has been all work and no play. I've managed to fit in some recreation in the little free time I have. There's been some game nights, some bowling escapades (including candlepin bowling, which I'd never heard of before I came here, but that didn't stop me from winning my first game!), a trip to ice castles in NH, and some other scattered shenanigans. The big thing for me this winter though has been snowboarding. I brought my gear back east after I went home for Christmas, so I've been able to do that a few times. I actually tried to go on weeknights a couple times because there are "mountains" close enough, but I was repeatedly foiled by winter storms, getting out of class late, or just having too much work to do, so it's pretty much just been a weekend thing. It's been a lot of fun. Calling the ski areas in Massachusetts "mountains" is a bit of a stretch, but I was introduced to Pats Peak in NH this year and that's decent. It makes me a little homesick for Mt. Hood (as well as very eager to introduce my friends to the joys of skiing in the Cascades), but it's been worth it. I think the season's just about over now, so last Saturday's trip might have been my last hurrah, but maybe that means that spring is finally coming!

Our most recent snow in Salem

     The weather here has been a bit of a tease. We've had some really lovely days, mostly Saturdays, but by the next day or so the weather always seems to turn bitterly cold and nasty again. The warm days almost make it that much worse when it gets cold again. I should clarify here that "warm" means above freezing. Heck, even 20 degrees feels warm if it's sunny and not windy. The wind's a killer. It's so bad sometimes that the weather app on my phone will give me alerts just about the wind. In February there were three days in a row when I got a new alert each day, and each time I just thought, "what fresh horror is this?!" First it was "winter weather." The next day it was a "blizzard." The last day was "gale force winds." I'm rather tired of seeing that last notification. I love the snow, but I could do without the wind, and now whenever I see pictures of my sister hiking in the mountains of northern California, or my father in Oregon mentions that it's a warm spring day that feels almost like summer... well, let's just say I'm ready for the next season. Besides, I just had my Spring Break (a much needed respite), so I feel like the weather needs to catch up with my school schedule. Otherwise it'll just be turning warm as I get out for the summer. 
     Anywho, that's an update for everyone. I worked on a couple more posts during break so hopefully I'll manage to get out the next post sooner than I did this one.