oh god is it over yet? part one

Part one of my attempts to avoid studying this week.

Commencement is this weekend and I still have tests the week after that. There is something terribly, terribly wrong with this picture. (The med school gets out two weeks later than undergrad, and we don't finish until next week. As if we're not haggard enough by now.)

On a somewhat sunnier side, Andrei and I and about a quarter of the senior class went to Martha's Vineyard this weekend as part of Senior Week. It was rainy and damp in the morning, but we made the best of it and spent most of the day gorging ourselves on ridiculously fresh seafood. At one point it started raining and we ducked into a harborside seafood joint to eat fried oysters and drink beer; I have never felt closer to my studying of obesity and appetite regulation than the food-fest that was this weekend.

Anyway, pictures will be forthcoming probably never.

Also, Andrei's lovely grandmother Lelia flew in from Bucharest today and will be staying with us until after graduation. His parents and mine are getting into town Thursday and Friday. Soon the rest of the campus will be crawling with proud mamas and papas and little siblings! Is it pessimistic that I am already dreading being pulled in all different directions by my family? The answer is yes.

Back to work.

nearing the end

And now it's May! And graduation is 9 days away. How did that happen?

Last weekend Tiffany, Rachel, Ashleigh and I drove out to Wrentham Premium Outlets out in Wrentham, and we spent about 8 hours shopping with a break for lunch. It was exhausting work, but someone had to do it! :o)

We went shopping to find a dress for Andrei's mom's wedding in June, but for all my hours of wandering I came away with nothing. This is my first ever wedding, and my first wedding that I'll go to with Andrei. …That it's for a 48 y/o woman who has the potential to become my future mother-in-law does NOT escape me. >_<

I did make out with some good buys; my favorite were these soft and buttery black suede moccasins. I wore them in the apartment the first week as house slippers before I decided that I did NOT spend $35 for a pair of house slippers… so I wore them outside and they feel heavenly, besides being pretty presentable for ICM (our clinical setting class).

Wednesday night it was girl's night for Cinco de Mayo. I should also say that it was Marine Week this week, so the other reason we purportedly went to the outlets was to buy dresses to "look good for the Marines" (somewhat of a joke... to me at least, and very Sex and the City).

We went for drinks in Fenway, and we did get hit on by two marines stationed in North Carolina, so goal accomplished! To be honest, it was not a thrilling experience. What with me asking dumbly, "SO DO YOU FIGHT… IN THE AIR, ON LAND, OR IN WATER???" No, I do not know a thing about what the Marines do. Apparently, they didn't understand "medical students" either: "WOW YOU'RE ALL DOCTORS?" Still, at least their uniforms looked good.

Then I staggered home so I could go to class the next morning at 8AM, and now I remember why I don't go drinking on weekdays. Life lesson relearned.

Let's see… other important life news.

Andrei is officially done with undergrad. He defended his thesis in front of 3 faculty a few weeks ago and it went spectacularly. They simply loved it. It's all wrapped up and been sent to the university for archival. I feel just so proud of his accomplishments, and for pulling off this thesis like it was no big thang. When he left the apartment for the defense, he was wearing dress pants, a dress shirt and tie and Converse sneakers (yes, I know), and the last words out of his mouth were "It's in the bag!" His knowledge on the topic, and his subsequent confidence was amazing.

My grandparents arrived in the US a few weeks ago and are settling in fine. They're coming up with my parents and brother ONE WEEK from now for my graduation (ohgod I need to get my shit together). Of course, my finals for med school are the week AFTER commencement, so it'll be a beautiful and stressful weekend to be spending with my family!

Finally, I know everyone says it, but I can't believe it's near the end. Being in medical school for the last year has made it not so strange to be done with undergrad (or maybe stranger?), but I think graduation will be a big milestone. Not to mention FINALLY being able to say I have my B.A. so that people don't give me funny looks at the med campus (or call me Doogie).