Updates

I am so excited to be an aunt! Now and later (again)! Like the candy... ooooo, I need to find some Now and Laters for Lena and Ben to try.

Life is busy! But the semester is going smoothly, and even more miraculously, it's nearly over!

I find out where I will be at for my summer internship sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. So many things are in limbo right now until I find out where I will be. My contract for my apartment terminates at the end of May, so I need to know if I should try and extend for a couple/few months or find something else. Dan is heading out to Boston in the beginning of May, so I am hoping that I can still be in the city so we can actually spend time together. There is a small chance I could get assigned to a clinic in Maine, but I don't like to think about that.

Spring break was spent out in Utah, which was excellent. I miss the weather in Utah. Surprisingly, it is mild compared to Boston. It changes more within the course of a 24 hour segment in Utah than in Massachusetts, but it is still a little nicer on average. I enjoyed being able to study with Harold again, I sure have missed him and his wonderful Periodical section catacombs. I got to stay with Evan and Hannah, play lots with Lena and Oliver, see lots of friends, eat lots of yummy food, spend lots of time with Dan, and take a brief respite from the restless rigors of grad school.

The last two weeks, we have been learning the various tests and measures for the hip joint. Anyone ever realized how much a leg weighs before? I feel like I have been getting a full body workout each class session as I attempt to position the lower extremity as I want it and then manipulate joints, bones, muscles, and other structural components. It's fun! I initially decided that I wasn't a big fan of using a belt because it looks like you are torturing a patient, but I am now a believer in belts! They help tremendously! With some things. The patient feels more comfortable, you save your back a few more years before you have an L4-L5 disc herniation, and the body mechanics are much better for allowing you to manipulate what you want to. Some examples of some varieties of usage of belts:



Sorry it's been a while since I have written. I've been having lots of fun, but also spending lots of time working hard. The trick is to have fun while you are working hard. One way to to do this is to go and study at the Boston Public Library (BPL). The BPL was the first to do just about everything in the United States, as far as libraries are concerned. Much like everything else in Massachusetts, for some odd reason...

From Wikipedia, "The Boston Public Library is the largest municipal public library in the United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to borrow books and other materials and take them home to read and use.The Boston Public Library is also the library of last recourse of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding. According to the American Library Association, the Boston Public Library, with over 15 million book volumes, is the third-largest library in the United States after the Library of Congress and the Harvard University library system." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Public_Library