photo theme thursday: wooden

wooden

yep, you got it. this thursday's theme is wooden. the above are my first real pair of high heels. i got them for 9th grade promotion, at which i was the valedictorian.  they're still my favorite pair of shoes to this day and they've had to be repaired multiple times because i've worn them so often.  in case you're still wondering how this fits with the "wooden" theme, it's because the soles are wooden.  they make an awesome clacking sound when you walk in them - not the horse kind of clacking sound but a "there's a girl coming down the hall in some hot shoes" kind of clacking sound.

anyway, i've been busy working all week.  it's been kind of crazy at the pharmacy with all the boys gone for a week but it's been fun to just have the girls again!  we get to have conversations that we could never have when the boys are around.  today, for instance, we talked about cervixes.  cervices?  whatever.  (not as weird as it sounds when you know that two of the girls are pregnant)

tonight i used my $14 for $7 groupon to gourmandise with my bcff (best chemistry friend forever; she's probably dying that i called her that considering that she's a biologist and really didn't like chemistry all that much), heather.  she and i took quant analysis together in the summer and were lab partners.  our project was about the amount of estrogens found in effluent waste water and tap water throughout the salt lake valley.  good news: no measurable amounts of estrogen found in tap water.  bad news: high levels of estrogen in waste water.  why does that matter?  i'll tell you why.  we're turning our male fish into girls!  and when there are only girl fish, there are no baby fish being made.  when there are no baby fish, soon there are no adult fish.  no adult fish, no birds that eat the adult fish, and so on.  second bit of good news: this CAN be reversible with proper water treatment.  anyway, you can read the entire report (references included) if you want.  i think it's pretty awesome.  that project is also what solidified my decision to go into research.  it made me realize that 1) i'm not completely incompetent when it comes to working in a lab and 2) there are other types of chemistry besides organic (le gasp!).

finally, i thought i would mention that the U of U Pharmacy Cup and Champagne Brunch is coming up, in case anyone has a spare $150 sitting around that they'd like to put to (semi) good use.

photo theme thursday: liquid

liquid

it's time for another round of photo theme thursday! this time our photo is about "liquid." the above picture was taken at huntington beach in long beach, california. some of my best friends and i went there in 2007 on spring break. it was one of the best times of my life and i am so glad that i went, even if it could get a little scary at times. i would go on another trip with my ACCESS girls in a heartbeat. the five of us that went on this trip are still really close.

this week has been quiet. i had a phone advisory session this morning with the associate dean of student affairs for UGA college of pharmacy. i'm all registered for my fall classes! i'm getting pretty excited now.

other than that, not much has happened. i got my grade back on my anthropology midterm and it was decent, 10 points above average. i have another assignment due monday morning and then my next midterm in a couple of weeks.

i should probably stop procrastinating now and actually clean up my room. it's kind of scary looking. plus i have presents to wrap! i've had 4 friends that have had birthdays recently, plus father's day is coming up! i'll tell you what i got my pops after sunday. fyi, it's pretty awesome. maybe i'll make some cookies tonight, too, like i've been trying to do for the past 4 months.

phd: the movie

two posts in one day?
please don't die of shock.
i just had to share this.  my favorite comic EVER (that i have actually linked to a few times on here) is being made into a movie.  fingers crossed that a screening will come to UGA!

PHD Movie Trailer from PHD Comics on Vimeo.

photo theme thursday: music

music

i know today's not thursday but i had a busy day yesterday so i'm posting it now.  yesterday's thursday challenge theme was "music" and so i started looking around my desk to see what i had that was music related.  that's when i realized how many headphones i have.  why do i have so many?  i'm not sure.  but somehow i can never manage to find a pair when i really want them.  do you also notice the recurring color theme?  guess what my favorite color is.  i'll give you a hint: it's not white.  i'm fairly certain a couple pairs of these headphones don't work anymore.  i searched my house and these are the ones i managed to find, but i think there may be another pair or two floating somewhere out there.

here's where i found these:

• purse
• backpack
• nightstand
• gym bag
• desk (2 pairs)
• car (2 of these are hands-free microphones/headphones, 1 came free with my new bb torch)

this makes me wonder why it's so hard to for me to ever find a pair of headphones.  i obviously keep them EVERYWHERE.  oh well.  at least i have plenty of spares.

as for why i didn't put this up yesterday, my excuse is that i had my first anthropology test right after work and then i passed out immediately after dinner.  the test wasn't too bad.  i will admit that i read some of the material about 5 minutes before it started while sitting in my car in the parking lot.  but a good chunk of it was just review of very, very basic genetics.  the kind of genetics you learn in the 8th grade.  we'll see how i did in a week or so.  if i got a good grade, i'm sure i'll post it up here.  if i don't post...well...then you know i'm too busy studying for the next exam to make up for this first one.  now, since it's my friday off, i'm going to do some fun and exciting things. like wash and vacuum my car.  oh yes, i'm a wild one.

buried alive

you may be wondering what i'm still doing up at almost 2:00 a.m. (of course, if you know me REALLY well, this should not surprise you). i can tell you what i'm not doing. i am not taking a huge stack of papers and folders from the pharmacy and working on turning them into a nifty little manual that anyone could follow when i leave. i am also not studying for anthropology as i just can't take anymore tonight. so i'm putting this all off until tomorrow....um, later today. because it is

TACKLE IT TUESDAY

really, though, i'll just be lucky if i get done sometime before august. in keeping with the theme of things, here's the before picture. please note that this is not everything i do at the pharmacy. oh no. it's just a small portion of it. don't ask me how i became in charge of any of this. i quite honestly don't know.

BEFORE:

DURING:

oh yes, and here's the anthropology i need to study as well.

maybe if i'm lucky i'll have another post next tuesday that will show everything completed. (yeah, right)

the daily post topic #148

the daily post put up the following question for bloggers to answer today:

Do you think people should have the right to commit suicide? What about euthanasia?

i took a bioethics class last fall and we spent a good deal of time talking about physician-assisted suicide (PAS), informed consent, euthanasia, and removing life-sustaining support.  the hardest part, and the most divisive part, of the issue was how to determine whether or not someone was competent enough to make the decision for removal of treatment/PAS.  i would err on the side of keeping the person alive if there was any doubt in my mind regarding whether or not they meant what they were saying, or if it was just being said in the heat of the moment.  others in my class said that they would remove treatment whether or not they knew the patient seriously meant it.  my reasoning is that i would rather have someone alive and mad at me then dead and wondering forever if i did the right thing.  but at the same time i believe people have the right to make that decision.  in my religion, we always stress the importance of free will and how the whole reason we are on this earth is to make our own decisions.  i don't believe in impeding anyone's right to any decision, as long as that decision is not harmful to someone else, just as i wouldn't want someone of another religion restricting my decisions to their own moral viewpoint.  i would let my patients make the decision for or against PAS but i would never be the one to administer it.  it is also my right to choose whether or not i would do it.  but they should have access to a physician who will do it.  i am just too attached to many of my patients.  it would be like euthanizing one of my family members.  i can't even imagine being in the place of a doctor who sees them every day and is that much closer to them.
anyway, i have included the paper i wrote on the topic as it goes into greater detail and includes references.  i would love to hear others' opinions, whether you agree or disagree.  i love to hear other viewpoints as it helps me see things a different way and i believe it helps me make better, more informed decisions.

photo theme thursday: home

home

thursday challenge is a fun blog idea site where every thursday they post a theme and you have to either find a picture you already have or take a new picture that goes along with it and post it on your blog.  this week's theme was "home."  this picture was taken a couple of winters ago around christmas.  i love this picture because our house looks exactly like those you see in christmas movies or martha stewart catalogs.  i also love when snow covers the lights by the sidewalk so it looks like the snow is glowing.

there's a secondary reason for this post.  today i went to see my urologist and he declared me normal!  blood work, x-rays, everything looked fine.  i'll see him again when i'm home in december and then a couple times after that every six months and then hopefully i'll be down to once a year visits.  becoming healthy is sort of bittersweet, however.  as sad as it is, i know everyone in that office and they know me, just like the girls at st. mark's registration.  i feel like i'm on "cheers" but instead of everyone yelling "norm!" when i walk into the bar, they all yell "laura!" when i walk into the office.  (ok, so there's no actual yelling going on but you get the point.)  i may have to stop by every once in a while just for the heck of it.  oh, also, the blood work my general physician took on tuesday for my physical all came back normal.  this means i still do NOT have diabetes (for those who don't know, a doctor misdiagnosed me as pre-diabetic about 3 years ago and i didn't realize it until after taking four 500mg metformin XR tablets a day for 8 months).  mom gave me the seal of approval to go to georgia....though i was going to go anyway.  it's an odd feeling to listen to my body and hear nothing.  it's peaceful and quiet for once.  i just feel whole.  i hope it lasts.