MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Losing???

Pinochle

Dad's Stew

Dad Chillin'

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Woolly Bear

Chandra decorating the tree

Three Generations

Forrest, Dad, Grandpa

The Tree

Grandpa Points the Way

On a quest for a Christmas tree!

Home for Christmas!

on the way home

Forrest and I spent Friday and Saturday night at Jen's house since we still didn't have power. It was very, very nice to have a warm bed to sleep in...the things we take for granted! Now we are in the Greenville airport waiting for our flight to Seattle! Yippeee!!

Time for a Christmas movie!

YUMMY!!!

How's that ice cream???

Jen's guitar snowman!

My new ornaments!

Miranda's bagpipe cow...in honor of her newest hobby!

One of Amanda's new ornaments!

A snowman!

What is it?

Christmas Party!

Friday night Jen, Amanda, Miranda, and I got together to celebrate the end our first semester of 3rd year and the beginning of Christmas vacation! We all went out to eat at the Thai place, then came back to Jen's house to hang out and exchange Christmas ornaments.

Christmas is here!

This week has been crazy! Tuesday was the last day of my surgery rotation at the hospital. I had all Wednesday to study for tests on Thursday and Friday. Then, Thursday night the ice storms came and I awoke to the sound of bamboo breaking in the backyard... and a cold/dark house. Thankfully, we have a gas water heater, so the shower was hot. Then, I chopped through all the ice coating my car and braved the tree-strewn, powerless streets of Greenville to get to Columbia to take the OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Exam). Trees were down all over Greenville...and Starbucks didn't have any power so I had to go without any coffee until I got to Columbia! Terrible. :)

I eventually made it to Columbia and took the OSCE, it was just as terrible as OSCEs usually are... Then, I drove back home and picked Forrest up from BJ around 8:30. The house still didn't have power, so we joined Miranda, Amanda, Sarah, and Brian at the hospital to spend the night in the medical student call rooms. Then, 9am the next morning, I took my last test for this term!!! It was hard, but it is over!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas vacation is here!

Iced Tree in the Backyard

Bamboo in the backyard, devastated by the ice storm!

and now...

Only two days of surgery left... I am finally getting over my illness. I only have a little bit of a cough left. This week I am on the Gold surgery service, which is much more laid-back than the other surgery services. It is mostly endocrine and laparoscopic surgery, so I get to watch a lot of surgeries on "video." The downside is that most of the time the medical student gets to run the camera. Thus, I am guaranteed to be yelled at for not keeping the picture in the center or being to far away, or too close, etc...! :) At least I get to do something. The residents on Gold are very nice, so it has been fun so far. And, since we only have about 3 patients, I don't have to come in until 5:30. I have had some more time to study for my tests that are coming up...

I really think that I am going to do surgery residency, even though it seems crazy sometimes. Who would choose to work 80 hours every week for 5 years straight...and be subjected to all the pressures and pain of a surgery residency?

I reeeeaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy like it, though... it is so fun to be in the operating room working with your hands... sewing and cutting and fixing people. I am not afraid of all of the work, although it would be nice to have time to enjoy other things. And, I would like to have a family... but I still won't be quite 30 when I graduate from residency...so it would not be impossible if I every get married...which doesn't look like it will happen any time soon. Plus, since I will be practicing medicine overseas, surgery would be a VERY useful thing to know... Oh well, all things work out eventually in the end, right!?! Just gotta make it through the next 60 years or so at the most....then, let the good times begin!