Camping at Beacon Rock

Ryan and Valerie suddenly had a weekend free and decided they better squeeze in a camping trip before a certain baby girl makes things too impossible. I was up for it, this being my week off between terms. Seth needed a little convincing, but I managed to talk him into it. :) So two hours later we found ourselves back at Beacon Rock, a cute little campground we've come to appreciate the last couple years.

Hiked up to little Beacon Rock, and saw a deer on the way. A small child with no fear goes higher up the rock than any of the rest of us. Ephraim has a future of rock climbing I think. He's all about "higher, higher!"

One medium sized rainstorm later, giving all of us flashbacks of our last dramatic camping adventure (a story for another time...), we got our first campfire of the season going and settled down for some indian food, naan, and roasted potatos. Or hot dogs on a stick, for the less adventurous two-year-old palate. Followed that up with yummy s'mores, some tasty vino and microbrews, and a cozy night tucked away in our tents. It was fun.

Whew, finals time. The last couple weeks have been stressful checkouts and proficiencies -- proving to our instructors that we can perform all the tests and exams that we will be doing in clinic on real patients soon. (In two weeks! I'll be treating real patients in two weeks!) I had my huge horrible full exam check out last Friday -- it takes an 1 1/2 for all the tests. It's timed, with a professor literally leaning over your shoulder watching every single little thing you do, and documenting every mistake. Valerie can vouch for how long it is as she was kind enough to come out to school with me one day and let me practice on her. Good times, right Valerie? Anyway, I passed it ok even though I was unlucky and was assigned the second hardest patient in the pool. It was ugly, but I held it together and squeaked through. Fortunately my proctor was my favorite professor, so I think she was extra kind in her evaluation and felt bad for me with the difficult patient. :)

Today was another big hurdle, one that is notorious in our program. Today we had our lab where we learn ocular injections . That's needles in the eyes people. I had to both perform these tasks and sit as a patient for another nervous student. Ugh. No, actually it wasn't as bad as it sounds. But I'm glad it's done. And no black eye on me or my patient! Yay!

We had a saleswoman from CIBA vision come talk to us last week about colored contacts and she said their company has decided to let all of us students order a year's supply of free colored lenses. So I'm trying to pick some out. What color should I get? I'm thinking Pacific Blue or Jade Green. I want something dramatic enough that you can see a difference, but not too weirdly unnatural (like the purple?) Actually I really want a pair of the cat eye lenses. How cool are those? Can't say I'd be wearing them every day though. Would you go to an eye doctor with cat eyes? Heh heh!

Coming up in a couple weeks we have a "white coat ceremony" documenting our half-way point through the program and marking the transition from the classroom portion into the patient care portion of our education. We'll have some cheesey talks from our professors and be given our first professional white doctor's coat. I'll try to have Seth bring the camera so I can post a picture of me looking all smart-like. ;)

I'm also in the process of choosing my 4th year rotations which take place in 4 sites around the country. Or 3 sites actually, 1 is an interal rotation here within the optometry school that I have to do. My current top choices include a couple places in Arizona, one in Bend, Oregon, and one in Cheyenne, Wyoming. But I have no idea where I'll end up actually. It's all done by process of a lottery based on how many other students want to go to the same places I do. I'm trying to do sites that have a contact lens concentration, as I think that's going to be my focus.

Looking forward to my week break coming up here soon! I still have classes in the summer, but I think the stress will lift slightly. Until July or so anyway when I start freaking out over National Board Exams.

So that's about all from the land of eyeballs and spectacles.

San Fran

Elena is so cute. She has such huge adorable eyes!

I have had a nice little free trip to the west coast. I was in San Francisco for a conference with a couple of co-workers. We made sure we had plenty of free time to check out the city and to fill ourselves with seafood. I had jellyfish for the first time. It was pretty good. Not what I expected.

I have a friend from college who lives out there. He is a park ranger and works at Alcatraz and Fort Point so he gives great tours of the area. He also has great taste in food so that meant more eating and drinking.

Fortunately the days we were out there were the only sunny days in over a month. We came home just before the torrential downpours and mudslides happened.

Now it is back to the daily grind until the next trip.

bath time

The picture is a little off, but isn't she a cutie? We've been in France and will head back to Florence tomorrow. Hopefully the snow in the Alps has cleared off the roads. I love it when there are new posts from you girls. Here's another picture that is better framed. Keep writing everyone. lots of love

Yet another cat picture

Here are Vienna & Toddy. They felt left out. Actually, I am pretty sure they don't like having their pictures taken because they appear to be glaring at me in this photo. Right now they are napping in a ray of sunlight rather peacefully.

My new job is keeping me ridiculously busy so far; so that's why my posts are few & far between. I wish I had a better, more fun excuse.

I am so glad to hear that you are all doing so well, and so many families are growing! This gives me the opportunity to shop for baby sized Colorado Avalanche jerseys. Okay, so I probably won't subject y'all to that, but they are so cute in the tiny sizes. However, I hear ducks & bunnies are more popular with infants than hockey players with missing teeth and broken noses. Oh well.

I have recently started a new plan to be a "better" person or at least one who watches less tv. It involves going to plays or museums on Sunday afternoons rather than watching B movies on cable from my couch. So far I have been to the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art and to a play called "The Smell of the Kill" at a small theater. The play was very, very funny--3 housewives get so sick of their husbands that they end up killing the men. Hmm, not sure that conveys the humor. Trust me, it was funny! Now if only I could convince myself to start going to the gym...