So I'm all moved in to my new place, and I love it! I have spent altogether too much money recently, but it's been mostly on stuff for the apartment, so that was inevitable. The place has to be presentable, and a big part of that is that it has to be clean. That'll take some work, as neither of my two roommates (one is my brother) are known for keeping their houses clean.

I've been slacking with my running recently. When I was in Virginia I wasn't motivated to run, both because I was hanging out with my Grandma, and because the area around her home is conducive to it. She lives out in the country, and her road has lots of turns and no shoulder. Plus there are bugs galore. I enjoyed being lazy, but it's time to kick it into gear.

The wonderful, cute, old volunteers from River Oaks Hospital are throwing me a goodbye party tomorrow. I'm going to miss them terribly. Helping out and hanging with them on Tuesdays has been one of the highlights of every week for me for the past two years.

Well, the next time I update I will have started my lab rotations and will be sufficiently overwhelmed (my prediction). Later!

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, but I've been busy. Busy relaxing for the last time for a long time. I had a wonderful week at my Grandma's house up in Virginia, but was ready to get back to life here in Jacktown. I'm moving tomorrow into the Fondren Hill Apartments, then I get to start up in the labs at UMC on Monday. It should be a challenging but productive summer, and I'm looking forward to it.

I'll update more soon...

Dear Mom,

Another year has passed, another Mother's Day has come. My love and appreciation for you continues to grow, as I grow older (and hopefully, wiser) and daily realize more fully how much of a pain I was to deal with for most of my life. Quite honestly, I don't know how you made it, but you did, and you did a fantastic job of raising us. You were a great model of a loving, caring, and selfless woman of God. I am incredibly blessed and lucky to have such an amazing Mom. I love you very much!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love, P

Nearly all of the students have now left Belhaven for home. Craziness. I'm left all alone in the dorms, and it has yet to really sink in that I'm done here. Maybe I'm in denial.

On the 20th, I'm heading up to my Grandma's house in Virginia for a week (I can't wait!), but until then I'm going to be hard-pressed to find good ways to fill my time. I've been reading some books on memory and speed-reading, both of which are intriguing subjects. I was hoping that I could get a good bit of learning done in those arenas this summer, but with the class I recently found out I have to take, and the lab rotations, I don't know how much I'll have time for. I'll see what I can get done in the next two weeks.

Not too much else to report on. The mouth is doing better each day. I still have gaping holes where the teeth used to be, and it's annoying having to clean those out after each time I eat. Hopefully, that will heal up soon.

Oh, I ran today for the first time in a week. I did a 5K harder than I should have, but I couldn't help running fast after taking waaay too long off. Can't wait to get up to 70 a week this summer!

"So," I thought to myself, "I'm sure I can go for a run. I feel fine." Not smart. After 100 yards, I knew that if I went much farther, the stitches would pop out of my mouth. I couldn't stand to not exercise any longer, so I went to the gym and used the stationary bike for 40 minutes. Needless to say, it felt great.

I was surprised today to find out that I have to take a physiology course this summer. Previously, I had only been told that I would be doing lab rotations for two months, now out of the blue I'm told I have to be here for registration and the first day of classes on May 26. I don't mind it at all, but I wish they had told me. If I hadn't asked them a random question today, who knows if I would have even known about the class. The name of the course is Physio 720 - Physiology Concepts. Sounds like fun, and it will last from the 26th through the end of July. That means I have 4 days between the end of class and lab rotations before I start med school. Here's to hoping that it will be a fairly relaxed summer.

I'm finally feeling better after my wisdom teeth ordeal. It was my first surgery, and I'm happy it's behind me. Now I just have to hope that I won't have to have surgery again for a long, long time. It was a miserable four days.

This will sound odd, but the worst aspect of the recovery wasn't the pain, although that wasn't slight. What was driving me crazy was not being able to exercise or eat solid food. Part of it was psychological I'm sure, but because I've been so active over the past few years, my body doesn't respond well to inactivity. I need to go for a run today, even if it's a short one. And after two days, I didn't want to think about eating milkshakes or applesauce or yogurt ever again. I would guess I've lost between 6 and 8 pounds since the surgery.

I'm fairly certain that I had dry sockets on the left and right side of my lower jaw. I went back to the surgeon yesterday because of throbbing pain in my lower jaw, and after he stuffed the empty sockets with medicated gauze (the usual treatment for dry sockets), the pain all but disappeared. Tomorrow I have to have the gauze removed, and I'm hoping that I won't have to start back from square one.

My lower jaw and lip are still slightly numb, so I'm guessing a nerve was disturbed while the teeth were being extracted. However, I'm not worried because I've read that if it is a "tingly" and/or "itchy" numbness, it's most likely not permanent.

So, back to normal life I return.

I'm going under the knife for the first time in my life in approximately 9 hours. It should be interesting, this wisdom teeth excision. I'll be anesthetized for the first time ever, and these will also be my first stitches. Exciting? Not really. But at least I'm not worried.