Wow.

Just wow.

So sorry

I know I haven't posted in a while. I've been a bit preoccupied with midterms, and my whole car debacle. I'll fill you in. First, I came back from break to find that someone had stolen my hubcaps. But only from one side of the car. Who steals hubcaps? Seriously? I guess I should be glad no one stole my car, but still, the tires on the driver's side just look butt ugly now without hubcaps. Then, my car died. I know, I know, it's a Subaru. It was built for this kind of crazy -15 degree weather (that was the temperature it was when I went to class today. Crah-hey-zy!). So after several days of getting it jump started by the roadside assistant guys (after a lengthy wait, of course), I made it into the Subie dealership in town to have the service guys take a look at it. Apparently the battery was so close to dead that it was just not starting in this freaky cold weather. So now Subie has a new battery and is happy. And I'm happy because it was still under warranty. And I now know not to go a week without starting my car in this kind of cold weather. It's a win-win-win!

PS...I survived midterms and am still passing all my classes. Yippee! And, I only have one more Anatomy lecture and two Anatomy labs left before the class is over. That's crazy! I am so excited to never come home again smelling like formaldehyde and having to shower before I study because the smell is so overwhelming I can't concentrate.

Check these out

I don't think I have ever seen icicles this big before, at least not in real life.

You've only got one

We need more commercials like this in the US.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

...how plastic are thy branches.

Since we are still snowed in (our neighborhood is very small and we live on a side street, so it doesn't get much traffic, meaning there is still quite a bit of snow), we were unable to get a Christmas tree this year. We were supposed to get one on Saturday after I got home, but we all know how that went.

Anyway, we decided to improvise, so this year we have the Christmas Ficus. The fake Christmas Ficus.

Deck the halls!

Home for the holidays

As anyone from the Pacific Northwest knows, we have had quite a bit of snow and freezing rain for the past week and a half. I was originally scheduled to get back to Portland on Saturday the 20th, but due to the weather my flight was canceled and I could not fly back until Monday. And even Monday was iffy, as there was still snow in Portland (about 10 inches or so, in a city that shuts down after only a light dusting). But we departed at 8 am from O'Hare, and everything seemed fine. Until we got to Portland.

Apparently the runway was too icy to land, and we didn't have enough fuel to circle while they de-iced and cleaned the runway, so we were diverted to Seattle. Yay. So we landed in Seattle, only to wait over an hour to get to a gate so we could refuel. We finally refueled, and off we fly back to Portland. We landed at 2:20pm (we were originally scheduled to land at 10:40am), but we had to wait for a gate in Portland, too. So wait we did. Until 5pm, when we finally had a gate open up so we could disembark. But the fun doesn't end, because then we had to wait an hour and a half for our luggage to show up at baggage claim. Thank goodness my express shuttle driver was kind enough to wait for me. Otherwise who knows when or how I would have gotten home.

Anyway, after my 4 hour flight turned into an eleven hour flight, I was very glad to finally be at home.

What does it mean

When several times after introducing yourself at a party, the other person says, "Oh you're Timzie"?

I don't know what to make of that.

You know the weather is bad

When they close school in northern Illinois.

I feel so bad for the guy outside on the little 4 by 4 at 4:30 in the morning, trying to keep the walkways somewhat clear. He's definitely fighting a losing battle.

You can even see little Subie-doo (the second car in from the left) covered in snow.

Favorite quotes from Anatomy Lab

While working on the neck...

"What is that hanging from her? Is that her ear?"

While working on the skull...

"It says we're not supposed to open that yet."
(Tear) "Open what?"
"What you just opened."

Love ya Mom!

I got a good chuckle out of this one. It reminded me of an essay I wrote in second grade for Mother's Day. I wrote that my mother was just like the Virgin Mary, but not a virgin.

She was thrilled.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving Mom and Dad! Wish I could be with you this year.

Love and miss you!
T

Good Morning

This is what I woke up to this morning:


I think it is going to be a very long, very cold winter for the Pacific NW gal.

Break

As you know I finished my first term of school on Friday the 7th. What I didn't tell you was that I flew home the next morning to surprise my mom. I had a ticket I needed to use and I figured it would be a nice opportunity to go home and relax. I knew my mom would also be happy to see me, but I really wanted to surprise her, so I told pretty much everyone but her. My friend Kirsten was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and drive me to my mom's house, then ring the doorbell to get her to the door. I was kind of hoping for a Publisher's Clearinghouse kind of reaction, but instead got more of a what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here reaction. Oh well. I think she was still definitely surprised.




Some background from before I got home...
I actually woke up that morning 7 minutes after my taxi was supposed to pick me up to take me to O'Hare. Somehow I slept through 2 alarms but woke up to a text message vibrating my phone which was across the room. After throwing on my clothes (which I had neatly laid out the night before) and running downstairs to make sure the taxi was still waiting, I flew back upstairs to grab my bag and lock my door. Thank goodness I packed everything the night before! Then I dealt with the overly chatty cab driver who also insisted on showing me pictures of his entire family, one picture being of his scantily clad young wife. Thanks dude. Then I got to wander around O'Hare because I could not find a departure display with my specific airline on it. You would think they would put these right on the other side of security, so once you get through, you check the screen and go to your gate. Nooooo. I had to wander halfway down the terminal before finding it.

Anyway, I finally made it home and a great time visiting, relaxing, and reading for fun. It was basically the fastest week of my life.

But now I am back and ready to get this term off to a great start. I've already forced myself to go to the library 3 times, and if you knew how much I hate this library, you would know how awesome this is.

Finished

I finished my last final exactly 3 hours and 1 minute ago. It feels great to be done. I'm not so sure about my grades, but at least this week is over. I haven't slept more than four hours a night, and I think I may have worn the same outfit every day. I've also discovered that even two pots of coffee won't keep me up all night, no matter how strong I brew them.

Anyhoo, I treated myself to a nice home-cooked meal and a beer. And now I can finally clean up my aparment, do some laundry, take care of the foot tall stack of filing, and catch up on episodes of The Office. Thank God they put their episodes online!

Here comes the sun

It was only a week ago that there was talk of snow here, and now it is in the 70s. Crazy.

I've had 4 finals already, with two more to go. I've vowed not to check my grades until everything is over, so as not to become depressed. I'll wait until I have some time off and can cry without worrying about it taking up precious study time.

And on that note, back to studying.