4th

Zach and I have been dating for four years.  Sometimes this sounds like a lot, sometimes a little (often based on who I’m talking to.)  It calculates out to about 1/6 of my life: not an overwhelming fraction, but definitely significant.   As with most areas of my life, I sometimes wish our relationship farther along than it is, and sometimes I am content with it.  Above all, I am very thankful for Zach and the special relationship we have.

As I wait to hear back from Azusa Pacific regarding my acceptance, I have been contemplating the strange, duality of ease and uncertainty in which I live right now.  I am at ease in the comfort of my parents’ home, taking my prerequisites a bit at a time, and working as a 1st Grade Aide (neither stressful nor time-consuming.)  I am uncertain because I have plans for the future, I have been working towards those goals, and I am anxious to achieve them.

In my mind, life will be drastically different a year from now, both with regard to academic/professional pursuits and living situations.  I fervently hope to be enrolled full-time in the S.C.A.N. program, and if I am that will necessitate my move to Southern California once again.  While this sounds exciting to me, I also have to keep reminding myself that it will be hard.  It will be full-time, difficult study.

I often compare myself to other friends, who seem so much more settled and “put-together”.  They live on their own, they have “real” jobs, they’ve moved on – whereas I feel stuck in a strange transition.

…And I just looked at the beautiful pink roses and purple daisies I  received from Zach today and felt a lovely peace.  It is good to be reminded that I am loved.

Fantasy

If I had my druthers I’d be soaking in an old-fashioned claw-foot tub, swathed in bubbles, eating fine chocolates from some high-quality confisserie, and sipping sweet dessert wine.  Flickering candles and the smell of lavender might play a part, but aren’t absolutely necessary for my happiness.  As things stand, I’m sitting on my bed in my messy room dreading the amount of studying I have to do for next week’s exam, wistfully looking at my friends’ facebook profiles, and wondering dolefully if I will ever be better at staying in touch with people.

Grad School

There were more pieces to that graduate application than I originally thought.  Initially, I assumed I needed to submit the online application and three references.  However, in addition to the online application (which was only an application for general admission into graduate studies at APU) there was also a nursing-specific graduate application to be filled out by hand and mailed in.  Also, an official undergraduate transcript needed to be sent (to prove I really do have a BA.)  I was able to take care of mailing the nursing application and the transcript request form very quickly (and my official transcript was also sent out very quickly.)   The last straggler to arrive was my third reference, but I am pleased to announce that as of this morning all parts of my application have arrived at APU!  Now the waiting begins.

“A”

…is for “second Anatomy exam grade”!

I got a 95.5!

Continued satisfaction.

Autumn Angels Gather Here

I love the necessary intimacy of autumn: “It’s cold outside!  So let’s gather close together in a warm home.”  This weekend has been a sedate parade of autumnal delights, beginning with the arrival of my sister Thursday evening and the arrival of my boyfriend on Friday evening.  Saturday heralded a trip to the pumpkin patch, where my mom, sister, boyfriend, and myself selected several excellent pumpkins.  Later, after a slow, sunny afternoon spent sipping warm Starbucks drinks, driving by fields and running errands, we ate the most delicious of autumnal feasts.  The menu included ham with glazed maple pears, butternut squash soup, fried potatoes with paprika, garlic, and basil, and a salad, of course.  For dessert we savored Mom’s homemade apple crisp, made from apples acquired earlier at the fruit stall by the pumpkin patch.  My boyfriend and I took an evening walk, enjoying the twilight colors and gathering colorful fallen leaves.  It was a beautiful, precious time and I am a bit wistful as I think of returning to the cycle of everyday life tomorrow.

Application

Grad School Application = submitted

Here’s hoping to someday be a student in the APU S.C.A.N. program!

“A”

…is for “first Anatomy exam grade”.

I got a 96.8!

Satisfaction.

Currently Memorizing

ANATOMICAL TERMS

Cephalic = head

Cranial = skull

Nasal = nose

Buccal = Cheek

Aurical = ear

Ocular = eye

Oral = mouth

Cervical = neck

Thoracic = chest

Mammary = breast

Axillary = armpit

Acromial = shoulder

Brachial = upper arm closest to trunk

Antebrachial = forearm

Antecubital = front of elbow

Carpal = wrist

Manual = hand

Palmar = palm

Abdominal = abdomen

Pelvic = pelvix

Coxal = hip

Pubic = anterior pelvis

Inguinal = groin

Lumbar = lower back

Gluteal = buttock

Femoral = thigh

Patellar = knee

Popliteal = back of knee

Crural = leg from knee to ankle

Sural = calf

Tarsal = ankle

Pedal = foot

Plantar = sole of foot

Calcaneal = heel

Digital/Phalangeal = fingers/toes

ANATOMICAL DIRECTIONS

Superior = above (toward head)

Inferior = below (toward feet)

Cephalic/Cranial = toward head

Anterior/Ventral = near the front of the body (belly side)

Posterior/Dorsal – near the back of the body

Medial = toward the midline

Lateral = away from the midline

Ipsilateral = on the same side of the body

Contralateral = on the opposite side of body

Proximal = near the point of attachment (limbs)

Distal = far from the point of attachment (limbs)

Superficial = toward the surface of the body or organ

Deep = away from the surface of the body or organ

Odd Fact

I am afraid of phone calls and emails.  I often assume people will be angry, disappointed, or otherwise unhappy when they contact me.

Hammering

My parents are having an addition built on to our house so that my grandparents can come and live with us.  At this point in the construction process the workmen are framing the addition, which requires a lot of hammering.  I always suspected this part would be quite frustrating, and it is.  The constant pounding has given me a persistent headache and an annoying ocular muscle twitch.  Fortunately, the workmen seem to be accomplishing a great deal every day, so hopefully this stage will finish quickly.

In an attempt to tranquilize myself I have taken up Mansfield Park, which I have always assumed to be Jane Austen’s most placid novel.  I think I may be proved correct in my assumption.  When I read several of her other novels (Persuasion, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice) I devoured them rapidly and with enthusiasm, like presents or tea cakes.  Reading Mansfield Park is a slow process, only a few chapters per day, and I have yet to find much joy in it.

Fanny Price is not Emma Woodhouse or Lizzy Bennet.  She is not witty, accomplished, charmingly fallible, or confident.  I am about seven chapters into the novel and as of yet she has made no remarkable conversation.  Unlike Emma and Lizzy, both of whom are fearless and pivotal characters well-settled in their respective townships, Fanny is a timid, displaced creature with little to recommend her.  Still, Mansfield Park has been referred to as Austen’s finest complete works, and was crafted entirely in the maturity of her life.  So I will suspend judgment until I finish reading it.