It's officially after midnight and no sighting of Le Fat Man.

I hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas Eve and wake up to a wonderful pot of goodies tomorrow morning. All of you, that is, who celebrate Christmas. Those of you who don't, I hope you get whatever it is you're supposed to get. And a lot of it. You get my drift.

Here at The Houghton household it was quite the C-Eve event. Somehow my father's brother was coerced into driving here, accompanied by their sister and brother-in-law. Along with them, we had some family friends, The Gilbarts and The Parrishes, along with the Parrish family New Addition: Alexander.

Uncle Tommy, me, dad, and Aunt Barb

The Houghton Fam

Alexander: The Cutest Thing since sliced bread. I don't even mind the candy cane pants.

This little kid has seriously grown on me. He's just too freaking cute. I don't want to turn into a gushing Auntie or anything, since I usually stab those people with a pencil mentally while they prattle on and on about a character we never meet, but seriously. Freaking Cute.

Short Version: 8 month old kid the size of a kid twice his age, walking almost on his own, loves music and blinking lights and fire (really loved sticking his fingers in the melted tea light candles), sings to us (a bit pitchy, but I think he might have a career there), and with a smile that would melt the heart of any stone cold bitch like me.

Plus he was a somewhat willing participant in the Le Saskia Knit Fashion Show.

I made this one for his mommy.



This was supposed to be his. Seems to be missing about 4 inches in length and an inch or two in circumference.

I won't lie - there was a distinct line across his forehead when we took it off.

Too bad I can't gauge the size of the kid's head better - I swear he's like a human version of Stewie.

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

Glove 1, Done.

Here are some pics of the finished product! Note the lack of plural there....still have to make it's mate.

Think I'll take a break and make another hat or two first...my fingers can't take these small needles!

I solemnly swear that I am up to No Good.

What have I been up to this last week, you ask? (or I assume you ask, which is rather assumptive of me I must say...but let's move on.)

Pretty much a whole lot of nothing.

Um, let's see. Knitting. Dinner with folks. More knitting. Twilight. Dinner with folks and friends. More Twilight. Knitting. New Moon. More dinner. More New Moon. Knitting, Knitting....and more Knitting.

In case you were wondering (again, fairly assumptive), I've finished knitting the gray scarf (gift for ?), made another fabulous cable hat (move over Dr. Danny, this one has magenta and purple!), and began breaking ground on something completely new for me: gloves.

Totally took these pics late at night when I finished the hat. Pretty darn obvious.



Ah look, a Christmas Tree. I soooo 'dislike' Christmas. The songs especially.

(If you choose to comment on this pic, I recommend throwing in a compliment to mom's tree. She reads this thing more than any of you other yahoos.)

I chose this fantastic vintage pattern called Bon Voyage Gloves. Aside from learning cables, this is probably the most dreaded project I could think of...needed something to keep my brain busy.

I admit once you get to the thumb region, my version of the glove is completely "ad libbed" (no use of the pattern really, just thought it out). So far I'm enjoying myself, despite the incredibly small needles/yarn.

Starts out all well and good, with the dainty little cable design.

By the way...if the thumb looks funny to you...I increased a bit about midway because I have the world's widest and stubbiest thumbs known to man. Gloves will forever strangle my thumbs, unless I make them myself and allow for some room. And make them look ridiculous in return.

Seriously. The biggest hands known to man.

My tenacious knitting spirit would not allow me to sleep tonight until I was well over 1/2 fingers complete. I have just finished the index and middle fingers. I am terrible at picking up stitches, I have learned, and thus have nice small holes spattered between my fingers and at my thumb seam. No matter, because I have working fingers!

You can barely tell the imperceptible little obvious seams. Boo.

(Please Note: I have not, in fact, gone to bed before 2am any night since I've been back; however the knitting spirit is not solely to blame. There is also the "Twilight series" spirit, the "late night movies" spirit, etc. Don't blame knitting completely.)

I have also since learned that I have THE WORLD'S LARGEST HANDS known to man. No amount of beautiful, vintage glove patterns will ever change that. Pity.

As of this evening, I have not been contacted by any Hand Modeling Agencies, nor do I expect to be called anytime soon. Guiness Book, perhaps, about the largest hands thing. No modeling, though.

But then did you read about my size TEN jeans?!

Not that I don't amuse you all enough with my posts (again with the assumptions!), I thought I would add some fun little highlights to my post:

A classic considering where I'm waiting out my winter break incarceration.

Since leaving The Rock...

I cannot stop pulling into the left lane.

I keep revving the engine when starting my father's Accord.

I check under my sheets every night for centipedes and donkey spiders.

Between the thousands of cars and crazy amount of blinking roadside advertisments, driving at night is incredibly distracting.

I bought and began Twilight (yes, I'm a sucker).

I've knitted a hat and a scarf. [I've also been to the yarn shop twice and bought 4 new skeins of yarn. Addicted? Why, Yes Please!]

I've watched 5 new movies.

I fit into size ten jeans.

*GASP*

Did that last one really happen? YES. I seriously almost announced it to the entire Gap dressing room. This is a feat that has not been accomplished since 1996. And how did I celebrate this little monumental change? I walked around the corner to The Great American Cookie Company and bought myself a Double Doozie.

Actually, I just walked by and sniffed them. The eating part was simply my imagination.

It tasted better to fit into the jeans anyhow.

Haven't Packed Yet.

Yeah, it's 1:30AM. And I haven't packed. Probably because I have a real sense of doom for grades and feel like I should be packing heavy.

As an alternative to packing, I am bringing you these fantastic pics of Dr. Danny in his new hat! (thanks Kristin)

I'll be home in less than 24 hours, for good or for bad. I fully expect an order of Bang Bang shrimp and a gin & tonic to be awaiting me (someone notify Bonefish Grill for me please).

Toodles!

Completed scarf

Wrapped up in my donkey reproduction notes

I think the green suits him.

We'll miss you Dr. Danny!



Random pic of Kristilee and I at the port after our last final.

Awesome full moon tonight

I think the goats like the full moon...

Internetus exploricus.

I've never had a case of Internetus exploricus this bad.
Its weird. Like I can't even control my mouse. It just moves on its own down to the Internet Explorer button every few minutes.

I equate this syndrome as sort of like opening the fridge door when you're bored and just standing there. I don't even use the opened window most of the time. I just stare at the Google home page briefly wondering where I can go that doesn't involve [insert course name here] and then close it.

This is obviously an avoidance mechanism. That I obviously cannot break away from.

Anyone know the cure?

Day Three: I Had To Pee.

There I was, sitting in my physio exam having a mild heart attack as I filled in the last few bubbles, when my body decides to compensate for my hypertensive state by sending out the signal to pee. (signal induced by what physio graduates all?)

[Yes mom, I'm talking about having to pee on my public blog. I'm sure you are sitting in front of the computer aghast. Readers: please note my mother taught me better than this. I'm just a stubborn little girl and don't listen.]

Anyhow, I tried desperately to fight the need to hit the bathroom as fast as I could in exchange for just a few more moments to review my exam answers. Unfortunately, I only got to #3 before the urge was just too great and I could literally feel the bruising in my bladder.

Turns out my renal urges were the best thing that could happen, since in those three questions I changed one of them to another answer and ended up missing that question even though my original answer was correct. Who knows how many more answers I would have missed by doubting myself if I hadn't had a case of The Exploding Bladder?

This is a syndrome I am well acquainted with...called Doubtacoccus retardus. I cannot tell you how many professors (and my father) have told me to go with my first instinct. It's all good and well to hear that over and over, but really when you're hopped up on stimulants and haven't really had your head on straight for days its not so easy to follow that advice. Logic and reason go out the window when Dr. Reich comes in the room.

I have this screensaver that slide-shows a bunch of quotes that I downloaded, and this one sums it all up:

It was like Joanne was sitting there with me channeling her thoughts into my computer...creepy.

In the last few days it seems every time I looked up at my computer that quote was flashing across the screen. So much so that the very first thing I did when I got my exam this afternoon was to write that quote across the top. Just a gentle reminder to myself that all of the answers were there, I just had to find them.

Whether I did that successfully, however, is anyone's guess. But its done, only one more to go. And that one is covering all of the things I love and adore (immune systems and vaccines and hypersensitivities Oh My!).

As Anna said to me earlier this evening, I've gotten off the Stress Train (she took my seat, mind you) and am now standing on the platform at Delusion Depot. Waiting for tomorrow afternoon to come so I can break open my extra large bottle of Grolsch in the fridge. You know the kind...with that snazzy flip stoppered top thingie. Oh yeah.

[Sorry again mom, this time for publically talking about being excited for drinking.]

Less than 17 hours.

Day Two: I Smell Like Poo.

Yes. I said I Smell like Poo. Or at least feel like it.

Day Two of The Worst Week of My Life is over. I'm pretty sure I got a B+ or higher on my parasit final. Which should make me ecstatic. I should be over-the-moon and all that jazz. And I would be...if the next two days of my life weren't going to determine My Entire Life's Direction.

That's some Major Pressure.

It's really hit me tonight. I could seriously lose my place here. I could seriously lose all I've worked towards for the last four years. I can't stop thinking about it, can't stop worrying. I realize that this is detrimental to performance in high stress situations, and I will probably fret for the next thirty minutes before channeling that energy into making sure I rock these F-ing exams.

But for now: ohmygodimightfailoutofvetschoolpleasemakeitstopican'ttakeitanymoremylifesucksi'mprettysuretherewillbemassiveamountsofpeoplelosingtheirmindsinthenexttwodaysi'mnottheonlyonewhereisthewinewho
needsaglassjustgivemethebottle.

Phew.

Alright. I am prepared. I have been preparing for this for four years. I have all of the answers. They are all there. I just have to focus, have to BE the exam, have to BE the answers. I can do this. After all, I've been through worse, right? Anyone remember Organic Chemistry? I mean at least Physio is in English.

Immuno isn't, but whatev. That's just memorization. Lots and lots (and lots and lots) of memorization.

Okay. Back to work. To all at home: I will see you in T minus 4 days, pretty much to the hour. Lynn: I'm looking forward to getting absolutely snookered with you Saturday night. Be forewarned: I plan on drinking on the plane.

Day One: Oh So Fun.

Test 1 of Finals Week:

(can I just interject here and say how sad I am that when you Google Image search "check mark" ALL of the images you find are RIGHT-HANDED check marks? I mean c'mon!

There are loads of Lefties out there....represent!)

Today was my first Final Exam for The Dreaded Second Semester. I am now completely finished with smelling like formalin (at least until we get my grades back...but we're working on that positivity thing right now so roll with it, okay?). Next up, Parasitology. So for this evening's post I shall share with you my favorite parasite of the semester:

Heomonchus contortus

Superfamily: Trichostrongyloidea
Common name: Barber pole worm
Appearance of the ADULTS:

Present in abomasum

2 – 3 cm

White ovaries spiraled around blood-filled intestine - hence "barber pole" apperance

Males:

Asymmetrical dorsal lobe

Barbed spicules

Cervical papillae

Lancet inside the buccal capsule

Females:

Cervical papillae

Lancet inside the buccal capsule

Appearance of the EGGS:

Typical trichostongyloid

85 µm

Thin shelled

Shell surface smooth

Contain a morula

Life cycle is DIRECT with infection by L3.

This parasite undergoes HYPOBIOSIS - L4 encyst on gut wall and overwinter

Site of infection: Abomasum

Pathogenesis/lesions:

Acute hemorrhagic anemia

ACUTE haemonchosis:

Anemia – 2 weeks

Decrease in packed red cell volume

Continual loss of iron and protein

Hemorrhagic lesions on abomasums

Contents are dark brown

Pale/edematuous carcass

Hemorrhagic gastritis (hyperacute haemonchosis) leads to sudden death

CHRONIC haemonchosis - typically due to a deficient pasture:

Weight loss

Weakness/inappetence

What are some clinical signs? Hyperacute:

Lambs die from hemorrhagic gastritis

Anemia

Bottle jaw

Ascites

Lethargy

Dark colored feces

Loss of wool

Diarrhea NOT typically seen

PPR occurs with this parasite.

How is this parasite diagnosed?

Season

History

Clinical signs

Fecal worm egg counts

Trichostongyloid L3

Necropsy

How is this parasite treated/prevented?

Selective chemotherapy

Major resistance to all anthelmintics

FAMCHA

What is FAMACHA? (KNOW THIS and ASSOCIATE W/ THIS PARASITE!!)

Ocular mucous membrane chart

Determine level of anemia and thus appropriateness for treatment

*****THIS PARASITE IS RESISTANT TO ALL TYPES OF ANTHELMINTICS*****

Whew! All of that for just one of 42 bagillion parasites we're expected to know for our final! Guess I should get back to work. Night kids!

(oh...and in case you were curious it's my fave because A) the name is super fun to say and B) spiral ovaries? that's freakin cool.)

Today we salute you Mr. Stressed Out Vet Student.

Hee hee. One of my classmates posted this on Facebook and I just had to share with those of you back home. Quite cute....but more so scarily true.

From Meg:

Today we salute you Mr. Stressed Out Vet Student during finals week. As you sit in your lonely cubicle in the library, doped up on Red Bull and adderall, you think to yourself, will I ever really to need to know this stuff in real life? The distractions are tempting and you have just diagnosed yourself with ADD, advanced delusional schizophrenia ... read more and involuntary narcissistic rage. By now you know exactly what everyone else is doing because you have checked your Facebook 800 times. Break is just days away, and your Prozac prescription will be in tomorrow. So crack open an ice cold Carib you Academic Warrior, because you’ll be spending break in Rehab.

I am officially sequestered in the 24-hour reading room for the next seventy bagillion hours.

Finished the last of my classes for The Dreaded Second Semester as of about an hour ago. Grabbed a table in the Quiet Reading Room, have my many various snacks, caffeine, and water....between now and Thursday night at 4 PM I am incommunicado except by email. Which I will check frequently. And I'll update the blog. Probably frequently as well. Since I'm pretty sure I have ADD.

I am feeling a little better about this semester than perhaps just a few weeks ago. Sort of like that half-empty glass didn't sprout a leak after all, and in fact instead has a leaky faucet above it. Each little mini-victory in the Study Struggle is a little droplet more. Hey, I might even move on to third semester. It's just going to take forfeiting the next, oh say 8,580 minutes of my life.

But what's a Life Goal worth without a little Sacrifice?

Make that 8,574 minutes. Took me 6 minutes longer to write this entry than I originally calculated.

The Key.

I had it in my hand.

Literally. Or so I thought.

There I was, standing at question 15, casually minding my own business answering one of seventy bagillion questions on our anatomy lab exam, when my gaze fell upon some papers sitting on the windowsill. Papers with red writing. Papers that looked remarkably like my test form. Red writing that looked remarkably like my professor's.

The page was obscured by a sheet above it that documented what specimens should be laid out for the exam. Our exam. The one we were taking.

I might not be able to summon up the names of the muscles innervated by the Left Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve (duh, totally answered that after the exam with no problem) or the proper term used to describe that auditory cavity thingie in the half head specimen (seriously?)....but I can put 2 and 2 together and folks, this time they equal Exam Key. Sitting on the windowsill. Plain as day.

What's a girl to do?

I will admit, I probably spent at least one minute of my precious 120 minutes allotted for the exam (which in reality should be more like 500 minutes, but whatev) debating my next move. Do I gently shove the top sheet over and make sure that I get at least some of the questions on this exam correct? Do I leave it there and move on like I saw nothing? Do I turn it in to the profs, wasting another minute or two of my precious time?

Kinda climactic, isn't it? Sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure book (God I loved those).

In the end, I turned to page 52 and turned in the sheets. Without even a tiny peek. What can I say? I want to earn my own grades, even if they aren't fantastic. Or even passing.

Course, this story would have been a lot better if I hadn't been told by Dr. Moffatt later that it ended up not being the key but actually just a list of specimens to be laid out for Dr. Berg's section (he hand wrote them vs. typing like the rest of the profs). Maybe I should just keep that little tidbit to myself. Course, she reads my blog so all of the points I might have won for being honest with what I thought was the key will be lost with lying.... ;)

Random Large Pink Bull's Penis.

Catchy title, huh?

Tonight was a madhouse in the anat lab. They have us put out all of the specimens that will be used on the exam the evening before so we can work off of them (and also help arrange things, manual labor I believe it is called). And what do our wandering eyes behold?

A random large pink bull's penis lying on one of the exam tables. With a matching pair of pink testicles.

Did I say pink? As in MAGENTA? Yes.

Apperantly someone in a previous semester wrapped one of the reproduction speciments with a burgundy towel.

Unwashed burgundy towel + tupperware with formalin = all specimens within dyed MAGENTA.

I would have promptly taken pictures for all of you to enjoy, however I'm pretty sure that would get me kicked out of school, or at the very least slapped on the hand pretty hard. So you'll just have to live with the terrible version I made for you in...yup, you guessed it: Microsoft Paint.

Okay...so this is actually a pic of a fossilized walrus penis that I painted pink. But you get the drift.

This is about as exact I can get you without actually photographing the Real Deal. Mind you, it would have been a whole lot funnier if I had actually been able to get a shot with Cristin holding it...she was quite befuddled by the entire experience.

Good night my friends, I am back to the Land of Dead Carcasses until 8AM tomorrow during which I will hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) be taking my very last anatomy lab exam ever. And after that....blissful naptime. Cannot wait.

Double Rainbow.

Okay. So first our new mouse. And then a Double Rainbow. Spanning over the entire freaking island. The first thing I saw after leaving my first exam of the semester. This is turning out to be an interesting Final Exam Week.

All I can really say about the rainbow is that the colors were more vivid than anything I've ever seen in nature (perhaps a slight exaggeration, but where would we be in life without a few exaggerations?) and the sheer size of it was amazing - truly like nothing I've ever seen before. Sometimes I've been lucky enough to catch the start and end of one. But nothing like this.

And then to top it off - a Double Rainbow? Do those even exist in the Real World?

Those are rain drops on my lens...

You can just make out the second rainbow just to the left of the bright one. No, it's not a double exposure. It was really there. I swear.

And no, I was not drinking.

The building this is spanning over is the Ross Library. Conveniently the location of our exam. Coincidence?

That last one is my Ghetto version of a panoramic shot, courtesy of crappy Windows Paint (since I never found my copy of Photoshop that somehow mysteriously disappeared).

And I Shall Name Him George.

I promised myself I wouldn't allow my mind to migrate back to the internet for the rest of the evening, as the quality of my posts dramatically decreases in proportion to how bored I have become with whatever subject I am studying.

BUT.

I came home tonight, about a half hour ago, and thought...let's make a little evening snack of healthy pasta. And I'm standing there at the stove, minding my own business watching the water boil (as an alternative to parasit that is a treat!) when out of the corner of my eye what flies by? A cute, adorable, pestilence-filled MOUSE.

Now, I've never lived anywhere with mice. Well, correction. I've never lived anywhere with mice that make themselves known. This little guy came flying out of the living room and scurried under the fridge as if he owned the place. I really have no problem with the little guy, even started chatting with him (named him George if you must know). Wouldn't you know as my water starts to boil he bee-lines it right under the stove? So of course, I admonish him for being so brutally stupid as to run under a gas stove that is in use when he starts squeaking back at me! And by squeaking I mean the cutest damn noises you have ever heard! I didn't even have to squeeze him first. I'd say it rivaled listening to a litter of newborn kittens screaming for mom.

Back to George. I am going on the assumption that since those squeaks were obviously ones of delight and happiness at meeting me (and not burning hot torture), our new friend Little George is going to hang out in our place for a little while. I seriously debated leaving the little tyke a snicky snack, but thought better of it since snacks have a tendency to attract other creatures of a not-so-beloved kind.

Good night, I am off to study more parasites. And listen out for my new buddy.

He must be Speedy's Caribbean cousin....

The Times, They Are A Changin'...

NOTE: This was written Monday evening, but being without internet until today means no posting on time....

“Hurricane Days” have turned into “Power Outage Days”

When I was in high school and undergrad, the best days were when large storms conspired against higher education and caused cancellation of classes. We Floridians were like a secluded little club in the states, complete with our own language (ya’ll) and handshake. Someone should have scheduled a soccer game against those “Snow Days” Northerners.

Anywho, the new and improved method of befuddling our educators here on The Rock seems to be power outages. They attacked often and without prejudice; they are random and unplanned; they are a pain-in-the-ass and a blessing all rolled up into one. It seems the frequent island blackouts in the last few months have done severe damage to our electrical system on campus, which has been scheduled to be repaired according to Island Time (meaning the electricians shrug their shoulders and say Whatev). Today around noon this culminated in an explosion (which sad-to-say I did not witness or even see the carnage) that left ¾ of the campus without power and all of us without server access. It is unknown how long this will be a problem, but as of now (around 8 hours later) there is still not power in most of the buildings and no internet available.

The Silver Lining, you may ask? Our first final of the semester, Parasitology Lab, was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. After much (inane) debate in a dark and ever-growing-hot classroom, it was decided that our future exam would remain up in the air until further notice. Which we just received via The Grapevine about thirty minutes ago: our exam is cancelled until further notice and will not occur before Wednesday. How was this information given, you might ask? Um, yeah, that would be via The Grapevine Text-Tree. And Facebook. See? All of that time spent checking Facebook every ten minutes finally paid out. Course, it would help if there was internet access to allow the students to access Facebook in the first place. Details.

And thus begins what I can only imagine will be an interesting and supremely challenging Second Semester Final Exam Week(s). Let's all hope I don't OD on caffeine.
___________________________________________________________________

Addendum: Following is an email from the school. Another email talked of a lightning strike. One of my professors today jokingly apologized for not watching where he was urinating. Ah, Island Life.

Oh, and the power went out again today around noon for an hour or so. Just in case you thought the problem was "fixed".
_____________
Hello,
At approximately 12:00 pm yesterday, one of the large electrical breakers on campus failed. The failure resulted in the destruction of several key components. Replacement components were scavenged from two other breakers on campus and power was restored. However, a significant amount of electricity is now coursing through a single breaker. The situation is stable, but it will behoove all of us to lower our consumption of electricity for the next few days. Please avoid energy use (office lights?) when possible.
Replacement parts have been ordered and should be arriving soon. I have spoken with some of the electricians, who are aware of the temporal proximity to final examinations. When the time comes, they will replace the necessary parts as quickly, but safely, as they can.
In regard to IT issues, we lost one server during the power outage. A replacement server is being shipped to the island as quickly as possible. When our overall system rebooted, some memory pertaining to recent software upgrades were temporarily lost. The system was booted a second time and the applications are returning. At the present time, the system is stable and functioning normally.
For faculty with impending examinations, having contingency plans in place, as best they can be arranged, would probably be wise. We anticipate that the electrical grid will be completely restored by the beginning of finals week. I am sorry for the inconveniences all of us have borne. Our people are working hard to keep us functioning normally.

Thank you,
RossU
_______________________

It's DONE!!

The Official Dr. Danny Hat is complete.

For those of you who don't know, Dr. Danny is one of our beloved Gross Anatomy profs. He is super funny, very kind, and occasionally helpful in class. If you want to find him during off-hours, your best bet would be the roulette tables at the Marriott. He taught me a lot in the last two semesters: how to anesthetize a giraffe (place a bag over their head so they calm down...um, yeah, that's called suffocation), what happens to rabbits when you scare them (his mom used to pay him coins to scare the rabbits...he just never understood why some would fall to the ground and not move), how to strategically play at slots (see previous post regarding gambling here), and how to properly pronounce my name ("Askia"). Oh, and some thoracic limb thrown in for kicks.

Unfortunately for us here at Ross, Dr. Danny will be moving to Toronto at the end of this semester. Something about being back with his family. Whatev. WE'RE his family.

So I hear about this moving thing, and I figure: what is a guy who has lived on a Caribbean island for seven years going to do when he gets to frigid Toronto in DECEMBER?

And thus, with the help of dad (thanks for sending the yarn, you ROCK), my lab partners (color choice turned out FANTASTIC), and Dr. Moffatt (thanks for letting me bounce ideas off of you, we SO need a Stitch-N-Bitch!!) we will be able to present to Dr. Danny a gift that will not only be practical, but also Bitchin Cute.

I love it more than I ever imagined. In fact, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to take it off to give it to him. So he'll probably just have to take me with him to Toronto. I could use a change of scenery.

The scarf is coming along, about 1/2 way or so, and may or may not get done before he leaves. I do have to sorta kinda lay down a few itty bitty boundaries about priorities and whatnot. That whole study thing. But since I've been really really really good and don't do anything else BUT study I figure knitting can be my wind down time at night. Now i just have to figure out how to make myself stop to sleep...

Yay Hat!! :)

I'm a thief.

I totally stole this from my friend Jen's MySpace page, but it was just so appropriate I felt the need to post it. I guess being around all of these people who have NO clue what it's like to grow up in Florida, I feel kind of proud that all of these apply to me... (except one: where the heck is Mt. Dora and why should I know that?).

Enjoy! :)

A Floridian
*Socks are only for bowling.
*You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.
*A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store,but everything to do with shade.
*Your winter coat is made of denim.
*You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
*You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.
*Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.
*You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.
*You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.
*Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.
*You know that any hurricane under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
*You dread love bug season.
*You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew,Charley , Frances , Ivan and Jeanne.
*You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
*You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
*'Down South' means Key West
*Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before. (more than once!)
*You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
*You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
*A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
*You have a bumper sticker: 'This car climbed Mount Dora ', and you know where and what Mt Dora is.
*You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.
*You've hosted a hurricane party.
*You can pronounce Okeechobee and Kissimmee ...
*You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat than have a boat yourself.
*You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.
*You recognize Miami-Dade as ' Northern Cuba . '

Finals are in Full Swing.

For those of you out there who care (i.e. aren't my classmates), the following is my dreaded Final Exam Week(s) Schedule:

Tues Dec. 2..........Parasitology Lab

Fri Dec. 5.............Anatomy Lab

Mon Dec. 8..........Anatomy Lecture

Tue Dec. 9...........Parasitology Lecture

Wed Dec. 10........Physiology Lecture

Thur Dec. 11........Immunology Lecture


Around 5pm on December 11 I will be completely done with this semester. I will also be pretty well aware as to how I did this semester, and thus will know to pack light or heavy. It will also be an indication of how many beers I will consume that night. Ah, who am I kidding...the number will be the same either way.

I fly home Saturday, December 13th for those of you at home who are waiting. Not sure of my flight schedule, but for headache's sake let's just say I won't be available for autographs or photo opps until late Sunday. Maybe even Monday. Unless you bribe me with food. We'll see how things pan out.

Happy Anniversary! .....and Congrats Mom!

Since I let her down by not giving a Shout Out a few days ago....I'll make it up with this:

Happy 38th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

...oh, and also....

Happy American Citizenship Mom!!

Congrats!!

For those of you who don't know, my mother has lived in the US for the last......we'll just say 'X' number of years.....as a Legal Alien (although dad and I occasionally threatened to throw her back). As of Monday, mom was sworn in and is an Alien NO LONGER! Unfortunately I was not present as witness to said swearing in, however I am assured it was a legit and official process and I am no longer a child of a foreigner. Well, sort of...

Good job, mom! You finally worked through that procrastination thing and got 'er done!

Thanksgiving on The Rock

Last night we Island Orphans got together for a potluck Non-Traditional/Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Amber hosted, Vanessa did most of the cooking, and the rest of us ate. The last few days have become progressively colder (and by colder I mean an occasional chilly breeze and potential for jeans at night), which added to the festiveness of the occasion as it actually felt sort of like Fall. Minus the leaves changing, snow on the ground, Macy's Day parade, and snuggly knitted accessories.

Enjoy the pics, and I hope you all had a wonderful Turkey Day!

IGA only had Golden Delishious, but I found Granny Smith at Ram's. Went with a mix. That's a lot of cutting/peeling when you don't have an apple corer or peeler.

Apples cut, peeled, and spiced. Awaiting yummy sugary syrup.

Yummy sugary syrup. The kitchen ants were going bonkers!

This is how we roll. St. Kitts Rolling Pin = bottle of Brinley Gold Mango Rum.

Starting to come together...boy that's a lot of apples...should've cut them smaller, but whatev.

Crazy mound of pie!

Apples baked down quite a bit, foil prevents overbrowning of the edges (should've put some at the top, too!).

Looks pretty good...

Baker with her contribution.

She didn't even have to use her hand to draw the turkey.

Jane and Vanessa setting up the buffet.

Anna 'double-fisting' it. Hee hee...

Check out that spread!



Ron, Cora, and Kate with a little Vanessa and Jane in the background.

Amber's new dog Jasmine. She was an absolute Doll all night. Even with the retarded pink undies.

Just had to show one more pic of the food...mmmm....

Ron promptly crashed out post-meal. It's sort of his "thing".

Dessert Anyone?