The Great Ice Skating Tragedy of 2010

The weekend before break, Andrew came for a visit.  It was the perfect storm - I had just finished a bunch of exams, had no weekend commitments, and I wanted to show off my freshly-decorated apartment.

While he was in town, we decided to do some Christmas-y things, including the most Christmas-y thing that you can do in Pittsburgh: go ice skating around the huge Christmas tree downtown at PPG Place.  Seriously, the ice skating rink actually goes around a huge, twinkling tree.  It's like a Christmas explosion!

My desire to ice-skate around the gigantic tree was also fueled by an overwhelming need to show off my mad ice-skating skillz.  Last year, I spent a quarter in "Ice Skating 1," an amazing class in which I learned all kinds of tricks.  I can skate backward.  I can skate on one foot.  I can do a slide stop.  In summary, I now rock a ice-skating.

Since that quarter, I have yet to go skating with Andrew, meaning he is still oblivious to my talent.  So secretly, I was uber-excited to impress him at the rink.

When we arrived downtown, it took forever to find a parking spot.  That should have been a hint that the evening was off to a bad start.  After cruising around for a bit, I finally nabbed one.  Things only went downhill though; when we walked into PPG place, we discovered that the line for the ice-skating rink/humongous tree looked like the line for the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.  My heart sank.  No matter how much I wanted to ice skate, I knew that we weren't in it for the long haul.  Two hours in the freezing cold just wasn't going to happen.  I was pretty bummed.

Knowing how badly I was looking forward to skating, Andrew suggested that we look into other options.  Thanks to a tip from friend and the internet on my phone, I located an outdoor skating rink in park not too far from my apartment.  We jumped back in the car, and headed that direction.

I was silly enough to think that once we got to the park, the skating rink should be easy to locate.  After all, how hard could be to drive around and find it?  Turns out, pretty darn hard.  Seriously, we drove over one bridge six times during the process of looking.  I finally broke down and called someone for directions.  The worst part is that in all of the aimless wandering, hoping that we would find the skating rink, we weren't even close.  Andrew was getting kind of grumpy.  He claimed we should have had just called for directions from the beginning.  He tried to keep the grumpiness to a minimum though.  I think he was just happy that we finally found a place, and I could be placated with a few laps around the rink.

The area right around the rink was packed with cars.  Everyone was parked along a curvy road.  From the road there was a path that led to rink, but we weren't able to park anywhere near the path.  We had two options: walk to the path or take the shortcut over a small hill.  I was too eager for the first option, so I headed triumphantly for the hill.  That's when the Great Ice Skating Tragedy of 2010 struck.  In the darkness, the hill looked totally normally and grassy, but it was actually super slick and muddy.  Two steps up the hill, my foot slipped out from under me, and I hit the ground - the muddy, muddy ground.  My coat was muddy.  My jeans were muddy, my super adorable new gray suede boots for muddy.  TRAGEDY.

Andrew helped me up, trying to stifle a chuckle.  He kept saying, "We don't have to ice skate.  We can just leave."  At this point, I was far too determined for such nonsense.  I pretended like nothing had happened, and continued toward the ice skating rink (though I did succumb to the long way instead of trying the hill again).  The girl working the counter smiled slightly as we walked up.  I think she could see the mud.  Ignoring this fact, I said, "We'd like two tickets for open skate and two rentals."  Her smile quickly faded, and she said very apologetically, "We're about to end this skating session, but our adult skate starts in two hours."  That was the nail in the coffin of the Great Ice Skating Tragedy of 2010.  I think at that moment I realized a variety of things: I was cold, I was muddy, and I was not going to get to show off my ice skating skillz.

I had a mini breakdown, so Andrew drove us home.  We watched It's a Wonderful Life and everything was instantly better.  Hopefully, the ice-skating powers-that-be are a little kinder to us next time.

Happy Holidays!
Brittany

The Carnegie Museum's attempt at scarring children for life...

What feels like a long time ago now (I know, it's my fault - I've been neglecting Britt goes to Pitt), my mom came for a fun weekend of mother-daughter time.  We did lots of things, including seeing Tangled, going shopping, eating delicious sushi, and going to the Carnegie Museum.

I hadn't been to the Carnegie Museum yet, but I was excited because it's always on lists of "top things to do in Pittsburgh."  The museum itself is half art and half natural history.  We checked out both portions, and for the most part really enjoyed it.  Additionally, they had gorgeous nativity that was constructed in Italy a few hundred years ago.  Look how pretty:

Angels!

Kind of blurry, but you get the general idea.

Here are a few other highlights:

Dinos!

Ridiculously large Monet Painting.

So as you can see, for the most part the museum was great - exactly what you're looking for at that kind of thing.  However, I do believe that one particular section of the museum was invented purely to torture young children with chilling, recurring nightmares.  That section?  The dead birds. 

Here's what made the dead birds so terrible.  They were just lying there, belly-up.  There was no attempt to pose them in cool bird positions, like sitting on a tree branch or flying or pursing prey.  Just looking at them, there was NO denying they were dead.  I think, that on its own would be pretty bad.  However, it gets worse.  Just take a look:

Toucan, belly-up next to a box of fruit loops

Canary, dead a doornail, next to a Tweety stuffed-animal 

And my personal favorite, a dead whatever-kind-of-bird-Zazu-is next to a Zazu.  I'll never watch the Lion King the same way again.

Morale of the blog post?  If you're visiting the museum with a child under the age of the eleven, avoid the "Hall of Birds."  Otherwise, tears will surely ensue.

Lots of posts are coming in the next few days - look for them! :-)

Britt

Two things that should never ever mix: medical school and finals week

UGHHHHH.  That is an onomatopoeia to describe how I feel right now.  Reasons why include:

1.  I have some kind of cold/virus.  It is the sneezy, sniffly, coughy, yucky kind.  You know how you cough when you're sick, and some phlegm comes up?  (I know this may seem gross, but I've dissected a human so my sensitivity so such topics is severely diminished.)  OK, well today I was walking to the bus stop, and I coughed, and that exact thing happened to me.  The problem?  I couldn't spit it out!  I was surrounded by people!  I tried to look for an alley or bush that I could duck behind to spit, but there was nothing.  So, I swallowed it.  Definitely a low point of the day.

2.  I have a final tomorrow.  And and exam the next day.  And another final next week.  And med school tests are hard.  (I apologize, sentence-structure-variation is taking a serious hit today).

3.  Really, I don't have a number 3, I just thought that a list with two items on it seemed a little sad.

I do have exciting pictures to share of things that my Mom and I did during her visit - they will come soon, likely Thursday when I have break from studying and exam-taking.

Back to the books,
Britt

It's beginning to look somewhat like Christmas...

I have been hard at work avoiding cellular pathology by channeling my energy into something much better: Christmas decorating!

Here are the fruits of my labor (please don't laugh):

I got a Santa "Wall Flower" - he smells good and he changes colors! (This is "white" Santa)

Purple Santa!

Aqua Santa!! (You probably get the idea)

Candles that look like Christmas ornaments - so festive

"And the (Vera Bradley) stockings were hung from the 3M Command hooks with care"

I got a Christmas tree!  The only problem?  I currently have six ornaments.  To put on my six foot tree.  In this picture, it actually looks mildly OK.  But just wait until I turn the lights off...

Insert this noise. 

BUT, on the bright side, I do own one of the coolest ornaments ever.  It's Santa, steering a gondola made out of Venetian glass - I got it in Italy last summer :-)

I feel kind of guilty sticking such a nice ornament on such a crappy tree, but what can you do?!

Last but not least, Christmas candle that smells like cranberry sauce, yummm

Hopefully the decorations improve over the years...regardless, Happy Advent!

Brittany

I swear, I am a relatively intelligent person

At the risk of losing the respect of all of my "Britt Goes to Pitt" readers, I must share with you a story.

On my way back to Pittsburgh following a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, I stopped at the Flying J, a gas station that lies just outside of the Columbus eastern suburbs and is notoriously much cheaper than all others.  I pulled up to a pump, popped open my gas cap, and swiped my credit card.

My stingy VW Beetle requires that I use the 89 gas instead of the standard 87 gas.  So, when the machine prompted me to "LIFT NOZZLE AND SELECT PRODUCT," I lifted the nozzle and pushed "89."  Nothing happend.  I pushed 89 harder.  Still nothing happened.  Thinking (for really no good reason), that maybe my freezing hands were the cause of the problem, I rubbed them together and blew some warm air on them and tried again.  Once again, nothing.

I was feeling frustrated, and decided that another machine would probably be better.  Giving up, I pushed the cancel button.  Nothing happened.

Antsy, I locked my car and headed into the gas station.  There, I encountered a friendly young gas station attendant who could sense my palpable frustration.

Here's how our conversation went:
Friendly clerk - Can you I help you ma'am? (Note - I HATE being called ma'am.  I am 22, not 42.)
Me (for some reason I talked even faster than normal) - I-think-there's-a-problem-with-my-pump-because-I-can't-push-89-and-I-can't-push-cancel.
Friendly clerk - Which pump is giving you trouble?
Me - I-don't-know-exactly-but-my-car-is-that-blue-one-right-there.
Friendly clerk - OK, let's go take a look.

We walked to my car

Friendly clerk - Can you show me what you tried to do.
Me - OK, sure.

I lifted the pump and tried pushing the button.  Nothing happened him.  I looked at him triumphantly, practically proclaiming "See, it's not working!"

The friendly clerk chuckled a little big, and said, "Ma'am that's the diesel pump, you want this one."  He pointed from the green pump that I was holding that CLEARLY said DIESEL, to a black one that did not.

All I could manage was a thank you.  I pumped my gas in shame and got the heck out of there.  Even though the gas is cheap, I may not be able to show my face at the Flying J for awhile.

Motivation Tank = Drained

I can practically smell the turkey.  Why won't Thanksgiving break just get here already?!

I have spent the last 5 days avoiding my genetics studying.  On Thursday, I made a few flashcards, but then I went to talent show (solo went well, btw :-D)  On Friday, I studied for a few hours, but then I went downtown to see the Christmas Tree Lighting.  On Saturday, I finally started to crackdown with only a minor break for Ohio State, and on Sunday, I was able to continue the streak until dinner when I just gave in and succumbed to the internet/email/TV/phone calls.

Today, though, it just isn't happening.  I keep trying, but it's like my brain has put a mental lock on the door to successful studying.  I've come to the conclusion that the only way to unlock the door is to feed it delicious corn casserole and cranberry sauce and let it spend lots of time with its friends and family.  At least, I hope that's a viable solution because a girl has got to start feeling productive at some point, right?
 

Pitt Med Talent Show Tonight!

My nerves are solely mounting because tonight I am singing a solo at the annual Pitt Med Talent show!  Eek!

I will post updates on how it goes afterward - wish me luck!

Britt (and the PalPITTations) go to Washington!

As many of you may remember, I'm the Pitt health sciences graduate student acapella group, more commonly known as the PalPITTations!

We had the incredible opportunity to sing at the national conference for the American Association of Medical Colleges (all of the medical schools get together and talk about very medical-school-ish things) in Washington, DC.  On Saturday, we arrived at our hotel in Dupont Circle in the early afternoon.  I was a very good little medical student and finished up a paper that was due in my ethics class on informed consent in emergency situations (riveting, I know).  In the early evening, we trekked out as big group for dinner at delicious Mediterranean/Italian/Greek/Turkish restaurant.   

Half of the group at dinner 

After dinner, a number of us went out.  We ended up at the most bizarre bar in Adams Morgan (younger, somewhat hipster area of DC).  The bar was an homage to Toledo, Ohio.  And when I say homage, I mean homage.  The walls were covered in Ohio license plates, Toledo jerseys, maps of Toledo.  If that wasn't surreal enough, they were two TVs - one showing The Karate Kid and the other showing Rocky III both without sound.  People were packed around the bar watching these soundless movies, and adding their own commentary.  

A fews hours went by and we moved on a bar with music and dancing.  Again, we had somewhat peculiar encounter: one of the kids dancing next to us was fist pumping with a SHAKE WEIGHT.  Joke? Or legitimate way to build arm muscle? The world may never know...

Sunday morning, we got into the city a bit more and visited the National Gallery.  I saw a Monet painting of Venice that I had never seen before and instantly fell in love.  

The actual performance took place Sunday night.  Our audience wasn't huge, but they seemed to really enjoy our song selection.  We did "Moon River," and I could see one audience member mouthing along with the soloist.  We also did "Mercy" by Duffy, which is one of my favorites. 

Our next performance will be next week at the Pitt Med talent show.  I'm pretty nervous about that one though, because I am singing a SOLO!  Exciting and scary! :-)

Oh! Also - Andrew gets in tonight, so it will be another fun weekend!

Until next time,

Britt

Stand back, or you might get sprayed with Lysol...

I am a cleaning madwoman right now.  I have a prospective student coming to stay with me tonight, and Andrew will be here this weekend.  As a result, every surface of my apartment is getting dusted/swiffered/Febreezed.

Watch out dirt, I'm coming for you!

I forgot some things.

1. I was supposed to see John Williams conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony tonight.  However, John Williams hurt his back and the show subsequently got cancelled.  This is not unlike the luck the usually have.

2. I went to DC this weekend! Stories to ensue.

3. Pictures!

Happy Halloween from the girls of Pitt Med!

Is it just me or do they actually look like Grey's Anatomy characters? 

 Chilean Miners :-)

I have med school friends!  And we have fun!

OK - time for bed :-)

Amy comes home. Brittany is happy.

My best friend Amy lives in L.A.  I live in Pittsburgh.  Once, I actually google-mapped how long it would take to walk from Pittsburgh to L.A., and google told me around 33 days.  This is extremely unfortunate because back in high school, when Amy and I lived a backyard apart, the distance was considerably more manageable.

Following her move to L.A., we went a grueling 4 months without seeing each other - the longest we've ever gone.  Imagine my excitement when she made a triumphant return to the Buckeye State and our drought was over!!

No Amy-Brittany reunion would be complete with out a trip to the mall.  Literally we just walked around Easton for hours.  I bought one thing (A Christmas present!) in three hours.  All who know my ability to shop (I'm talking to you, Mom), should be very proud of my restraint.  Afterward, we reconnected with our roots and cheered on the Pickerington North Marching Panther Band at state band contest.  The band show was amazing (no surprise there!), and they played Rhapsody in Blue, which was one of  my personal favorites to play when I was in high school.

I think that the weekend turned into some kind of "timeline of my life" because our next was OSU for a Halloween party.  The best part of the party was easily a group of guys that all dressed like traffic cones and literally stopped a car in the middle of the street.  I stole a pic from Amy's blog.

She walked into the street to capture this picture as people were yelling, "Cones! Mobilize!"  To be honest, it really made me miss undergrad.

Seeing the marching band and visiting campus, I think Amy and I both realized how weird it feels that it we now not just past the high school phase of life, but we are also past the next one.  We're mostly grown-ups and to deal with things like the real world/med school.  It's a lot easier making those transitions when you have fabulous friends to support you :-)

Until tomorrow,
Brittany

"Is that kid dressed up like alcohol dehydrogenase?"

To kick off this post: I passed biochem!!  The best consequence of passing is that biochem is now behind me and I am deep into the world of genetics.  Finally, I am studying a subject that I know things about and really enjoy. Woo-hoo :-)

To celebrate surviving the biochem exam, I had a group of my med school girl friends over for a yummy dinner of chicken and stuffing (I know how to use a crockpot!)  Then, we all got dressed up for a med school Halloween bash at a fellow student's house.  Some of my favorite costumes:

1. A group of Chilean miners

2. Alcohol dehydrogenase (an enzyme important in fuel metabolism)

3. A postal worker complete with a stuffed dog attached to the back of the leg

4. "Peer pressure"

5. Rubix cube

6. Genie from Aladdin 

7. Barbie

8. An Indian "Where's Waldo?"

This weekend included another fabulous trip home.  I've decided to create a vacant position for a "Columbus-based personal assistant."  I have so many wonderful people to visit in Columbus, that I always try to figure out creative ways to fit everyone in.  If you would like the job, let me know :-)

On Friday, I drove straight to Andrew's apartment to hang out.  We played Dr. Mario for Super Nintendo (old school, I know).  Andrew beat me and proceeded to say, "Brittany, you may be med school, but I'm only doctor in the room right now."

Next, I got dinner with my old roomies at Cap City Diner.  We did what we ALWAYS do and all embarrassingly ordered the exact same thing.  Once at Cazuela's, a Mexican place up by campus, six of ordered the Chimichangas Supremas.  Ridiculous.

Friday night I also made it to a Halloween party with a bunch of high school friends.  Andrew was dressed as Antoine Dodson (google him if you don't recognize the name - you won't be sorry!)

Part two of the weekend, entitled "Amy comes home. Brittany is happy" will be posted ASAP!

Britt

I promise I'm still alive!

Sorry about my absence from the blog-o-sphere.  I have been hidden away in the medical school and library.  Biochem final is tomorrow and I am feeling the pressure!

Before I fell into the biochem trap, I promised pics from Fallingwater, and here they are!  Two weekends ago, I drove down to Fallingwater with Darci - it was incredible.  If you ever find yourself in Western Pennsylvania in autumn, you simply have to go.

Look how pretty!

This is as close to nature as we get!

Note - We did actually tour the house as well, but they had a very strict no interior photos policy.  Kind of a bummer. 

Last weekend was also filled with excitement - I got to go home for Homecoming and birthdays.  Seriously, half the people I know have birthdays in October (observation and possible explanation - October is nine months after Valentine's Day...)  Over the course of the weekend, I celebrated my Mom's birthday at Brio, Andrew's birthday with a family celebration, and my grandma's 88th birthday with a family cookout.  Trips home are fantastic because they inevitably mean lots of delicious (and free) food.

In between all of that celebrating, I got to reconnect with old friends at the Homecoming brunch and game.  This weekend marked my first time on campus since graduation - crazy!  It was amazing to see my fellow former HC court members, and my mom and I had a fun cheering on the Buckeyes.  It didn't hurt that they won in a shut-out :-)  Here's a picture of my and fellow '08 court member, Dan, from the Homecoming brunch:

Keep your fingers crossed that my exam goes well - I've got to get back to the books!

Brittany

Nothing like cupcakes to turn a bad day around!

This morning, I woke up and rolled over to look at my alarm clock.  It was 8:19.  I needed to catch the 8:20 bus.  Panic immediately set in, and I got dressed in a business casual outfit (today was a patient interviewing day, meaning I had to look professional) in 3.5 minutes.  Seriously, I woke up at 8:19 and was out the door by 8:24.  While I likely set some record for getting-ready-under-pressure, I still missed my bus.

So, I stood dejectedly at the bus stop, thinking about how I looked really tired because I had no time for make-up, and wishing that I had stopped to brush my teeth which were super slimy.  I really shouldn't have sacrificed personal hygiene, but I realize that kind of thing is normal for med students.

I was dwelling how terribly the morning started out, and a bus came rambling down the street.  I perked up a little.  As the bus got up to my stop, I could tell it was PACKED.  It was so packed, in fact, that it didn't even stop!  At this point, I was no longer dejected.  Instead, I was fuming.  When I did finally get on bus, I managed to calm down a little.

The rest of my school day went OK; we had a small group case presentation of a baby boy with a genetic defect in a enzyme necessary for digestion.  It was actually a somewhat interesting way to actually apply biochemistry.  Who knew that biochem could actually be applicable?!  I also had my interviewing final and got to ask a woman about her back pain. (This was not nearly as traumatic as sexual history day).

I rounded out the evening with some fun.  My small group had potluck (YUM!) and I made apple spice cupcakes.  (Once I frost them, pictures will come!)

I also have pictures to post from a trip I took to Fallingwater last weekend.  I promise they will come soon too!

Britt

PS - I'm headed home for Homecoming and birthday celebrations tomorrow! :-)

Kiss of death

Ohio State simply could not hold up to the pressure of being #1.  Seriously, that game was stress-inducing and ultimately heart-breaking.

I'm going to next week's game and I am still super excited, but it's a bummer to end the we-could-have-an-undefeated-season high.  Oh well, there's always next year.  And at least Michigan lost.

In other news, biochem has led me to experiment with some new study techniques.  Namely, missing more lectures and engaging in "self-directed study."  I think it's actually going OK, though.  We'll see soon enough, as the class is only 3 weeks long and our final is 12 days away!

FREE!

ANATOMY IS OVER!!!!!!!

Biochemistry is here and I have never been more excited to see chemical structures in a syllabus.  The oxygen molecules just looked so nice and friendly.

Also, as promised, here are my thoughts on The Social Network.  If you have a facebook account, you NEED to go see it.  It's so intriguing to learn about the beginnings of a website that I have literally wasted 100s of hours on.  It also has an amazing soundtrack and a great cast including a set of twins played by one actor (Parent Trap style!)

Pittsburgh's Piece of Buckeye Nation

Andrew was in this weekend, which means that I have more to say in this post than "I studied anatomy." Yay!

We kicked off the weekend with a trip to Mineo's - the pizza place we had enjoyed back in August. It was still delicious, and remains a top pick of mine in the city.  We also finished off season 2 of Dexter (my opinion - fantastic, but still not as a good as the first season).  Unfortunately, season 3 is NOT available on Netflix instant watch, so I'm going to have to physically have the DVD's sent to me. Boo.

On Saturday, we went to the OSU Alumni Club of Pittsburgh's game watch party.  Picture this: an Irish pub on the Southside of Pittsburgh filled with excited, scarlet-and-gray-wearing Buckeyes - Amazing!  The food there was also great, though I did get made fun of when I tried to order a gyro, and pronounced it the correct way (hyear-o).  The bartender's response, "I think you mean JAI - ROE.  You're in Pittsburgh, not Ohio."

Lesson #1 for the weekend: Ohio State pride is ubiquitous.

Lesson #2 for the weekend: I need some kind of translation guide for this city.

I also have to update you all on The Social Network, which Andrew and I saw last weekend - but no time for that now, as  I have to jet to acapella practice.

Until later!
Britt

Scaife High School

I've come to the conclusion that medical school is actually just a regression back to high school.  I submit the following examples as proof:

1.  I never leave Scaife Hall.  It's just like I'm back at Pickerington North.  Unless I go out of the building for lunch, I don't even see much daylight anymore.

2.  I have a locker. 

3.  I change between classes.  In high school, I changed for gym and occasionally band.  Now, I change for anatomy lab.  Believe it or not, a high school gym locker room actually smells better than an anatomy one.

4.  I have classes with the same people.  All day.  Everyday.

5.  I carry a book bag everywhere.  During undergrad, I didn't have much to carry - maybe a notebook, a binder, and a pencil bag - so I opted for the ever-so-stylish Vera Bradley tote.  Now, I carry textbooks, anatomy atlases, and inch-think course packets on a daily basis.  The Vera just won't do.

In summary, I'm a letter jacket away from being back in the tenth grade.

Britt

My family is ridiculously amazing.

Exhibit A:


All of the grandchildren (minus my brother who was playing soccer at the time) and my 87 year-old grandma crammed into a photo booth at my cousin's wedding.  Even Grandma followed the "Look up to the right" instructions in the last picture!

What do you say?

In my quest to take a rigorous break from studying, I happened upon an interesting survey on our nation's names for soft drinks.  There are three general categories: pop, soda, and coke.  As a Midwestern girl, I have lived a pop-centric lifestyle.  Though, my travels have often demonstrated the diversity of our nation on the issue.  I find the two little pockets of yellow around Wisconsin and St. Louis particularly interesting - how do such things happen?  With that question, I think I should return to my cranial nerve flashcards :-)

http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html

It must be game day...

...because my dogs are looking pretty spiffy ;-)

Maddie and Duke say, "Go Bucks!"

Hello, Columbus!

I passed my anatomy exam!  Whoo hoo!  One test down, who knows how many more to go!

Other than that little gem, my life has been pretty typical this week.  Following the exam on Monday, we jumped right into the next section of anatomy: head and neck.  I have come to the quick conclusion that the brain and nervous system are just not my thing.

I also had Pal-PITT-tations practice.  This week, there were some solo auditions (no, I did not try out for any solos) - but it was great to watch the try-outs and give input on the final decisions.

Now, I AM HOME!  I just had a mini-reunion with my doggies.  They were excited to see me.  Or maybe just excited to have someone around to let them out and feed them.  But I'm going to let myself believe it's me they're excited about.

"Why did Britt go to Columbus?" you might wonder.  It's the last weekend of wedding-pallooza!  I am going out with a major bang - I have TWO weddings to go to tomorrow.  It's going to be quite festive, let me tell you.

Time to go study!
Britt

When Life Gives You a Hard Anatomy Exam...

....buy a new pair of shoes!

Retail therapy does wonders for the soul.

D-Day

Excuse my absence from the blogosphere; I have been selling my soul to the anatomy devil in return for a passing grade.  Tomorrow marks an important moment: my first test of medical school.

Let me just say, I have studied more for this one test that I did for entire quarters of OChem.  (For those of you who knew me back then, you can attest to how much time that truly is).  This weekend alone, I have studied 30 hours.  IN ONE WEEKEND.  Unfortunately that included a late Friday night trip to the cadaver lab which I can summarize with one long compound word: creepy-as-all-get-out.

The test will have two components.  1) A 50-choice multiple choice section. 2) A "what is this body part?" lab practical identification section.  Luckily, both my "practice pratical" and practice written portion were both mostly OK.  Still, I just want to get tomorrow over with!

Say a little pray for me!
Britt

Oh, Netflix, you addictive-instant-movie-service, you

So Andrew was here this weekend!  Thank goodness for Labor Day and all of its extra-day-off glory.

While he was here, we decided to keep things pretty low key (except for a division 3 football game with my grandparents who happened to be near town, a trip to the mall, and a dinner out).  Instead of hiking all over town, we decided to bunker in and relax.  I suggested that we check out the instant-view list on Netflix (my replacement for cable now that I live alone).  We perused through some TV shows, and ultimately decided to go with Dexter.  We've both heard ridiculously good things about it, and it seemed like something we could reasonably agree on (not too girl a la Sex in the City or too manly a la 24).

Before I knew it, 12 hours of the weekend were gone, and we had finished the entire first season.

Moral of the story: Netflix is amazing.  And Dexter is addictive.

For those who don't know the show is about a blood spatter analyst who moonlights as a vigilante serial killer.  At one point, Dexter was describe cuts to major arteries (femoral, subclavian, jugular) and I had a geeking-out moment where I mentally ran through the locations of each of them.  See, TV CAN be educational!

Until next time (if anatomy doesn't kill me between now and then!)
Britt

Sigh....

I just realized that the notebooks I bought at Staples to study anatomy are wide-ruled.  It's like I'm in fourth grade all over again.

Striving for productivity

Yesterday was SUCH a long day.  I was in the medical school buildings for 12 hours.  12 HOURS.  Then, when I finally got back to my sad, neglected apartment, I studied anatomy.

One of my classes yesterday was Ethics, Law, and Professionalism.  Our topic was informed consent, the idea that people have to OK their medical treatment without coercion.

Here were two examples given by our professor on what NOT to do:
1. Scare a patient into treatment by threatening to reveal his interactions with prostitutes.
2. Tell grandma that she needs to sign a DNR so that you can pay for college.

Thank you, professor.  Had you not told me, I probably would have done both of those things.

Today, I have been a very productive little med student.  I had class for 8 hours, then I ran to the bank, got home, did laundry, made brownies for my small group, cleaned my living room, and started studying!

Most importantly, I am using the internet to follow my BUCKEYES.  It's hard knowing I won't see any games in person this year, but I did find a OSU Alumni group that gets together at a local bar to watch the games!

GO BUCKS! OH!
Brittany

Surrendering my Life to Anatomy...

Recap of my week:

Monday was day 1 of anatomy.  We covered the thoracic cavity (area around ribs) and were "introduced" to the lab.  After class was done, I went home and worked on a poster that described my research for the summer.  It took almost 8 hours, and when I finally finished it.  I re-watched the day's lecture on line and pre-read for the next day.  Really, that was my whole night.

Tuesday was day 2 of anatomy.  We covered the nervous system, more specifically the autonomic nervous system which automatically and involuntarily regulates the organs.  In lab, we actually started working on our cadavers.  At first, I was excited, but of course my life can never be simple.  I am formaldehyde-sensitve.  What does this mean?  Well, for starters, it means that I an anatomy lab is one of the least enjoyable places for me to be.  How did I find out?  I got light-headed, dizzy, and clammy about 20 minutes into lab.  What is the result?  I have to wear a respiratory mask that filters all the air I breathe.  Multiple people commented on my "special" mask.  I'M THAT GIRL.

Tuesday was also a very exciting day.  I joing the Pal-PITT-tations - PittMed's co-ed acapella group!  Little known fact about me - I can read music and sing on key, and I like doing it!  Practice will be once a week, and I think it will be a fantastic way to escape the science that is currently consuming my life.  Of course, after practice I had to re-watch the day's anatomy lecture and pre-read, but singing for a few hours made that more bearable.

Wednesday was day 1 of two once-a-week classes: Ethics, Law, and Professionalism and Medical Deciscion Making.  Both were OK.  There was no furious note-taking or ridiculous amounts of body parts to remember, so I can't complain.  In the afternoon, we had day 3 of anatomy, including lung dissection. I'm guessing that you know what I did when I got home.

Thursday was day 4 of anatomy.  We started our heart dissection, which made lecture much easier to understand.  When you can see in organ live, the details really come together.  Thursday was also day 1 of my only other once-a-week class: Medical Interviewing.  I actually REALLY like the class; it feels the most like real-doctoring.  We practice interviewing and history-taking with actor-patients and then get feedback from our peers and teacher.  Following class, there was a dinner for all first years that introduced us to our faculty and second-year mentors.  Of course, after that I had to re-watch the day's lecture!

Friday was day 5 of anatomy, which wasn't bad because I was done at noon - whoo-hoo!  I wasn't totally free though - I presented the poster I had worked on Monday night at my research program's annual retreat.

After all of that, I can say that I SURVIVED MY FIRST REAL WEEK OF MEDICAL SCHOOL!  I'm writing this entry as a take a "study break," so I guess it's now back to the books for me!

Britt

My crowning achievement of the day....

....was finding the right vagus nerve in my cadaver.  What has my life come to?

Going to the Chapel and I'm Gonna Watch Other People get Married :-)

I went home this weekend!  I deserve a gold star for my ability to drive among the states of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  My blog on WV's terrible traffic patterns must have found its way to some higher-ups because the detour highway was no longer under construction!  I'm sure I don't deserve it, but I am so taking credit for that.

The reason for my trip home was wedding #2 of the season.  Andrew's older sister Tiffany got married, which gave me the perfect excuse to go home before anatomy got crazy (which I can say, after day 1, that it definitely has reached that point).

On Friday, I drove like the wind right after class to make it home for the rehearsal and dinner, which was amazing - the Worthington Inn has great banquet service.  The actual wedding itself was held in Pickerington, and the reception was out in Newark at the Cherry Valley Lodge, which was also fantastic.  The food was delicious, and the party was hopping.  Here are some pictures from the event!

I started my evening off blowing bubbles with Andrew's nephew.  He calls me "Bee Bee" (he's only two, and Brittany is a really hard name!), and he kept saying "Mo, Bee Bee, mo!"

Showing off my new dress

Andrew and I :-)

Last night was bittersweet drive back to the 'Burgh, and today was a rude awakening to world of medical anatomy - more on that to come!

Britt  

Braddock, PA

Yesterday was a total culture shock.  The medical students broke up into groups to visit underserved areas of Pittsburgh.  My group headed to Braddock, PA.

Here's a little background on Braddock.  In the early to mid-1900's, Braddock was the place to be in Pittsburgh.  It was the site of many steel mills, the first EVER Carnegie Library (fun fact, my hometown of Pickerington is the smallest town to have a Carnegie Library), and one of the premier shopping districts in all of Pennsylvania.  Then, the steel mills closed down, and the town's population plummeted from 30,000 to 2,500.  All of the store fronts on the main drag are busted in and shut down.  The area has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the entire country.  The average house price in Braddock is under $30,000.  If there was any way to accurately describe Braddock, it would be "ghost town." 

Now, the people of Braddock have no access to healthcare (the only hospital in the area closed down in January because it wasn't turning enough of a profit), or job opportunities, or even grocery stores.  Most of them do not have their own transportation, nor are there buses that cover the area.  

Still, in the midst of all of that resiliency exists.  I had the pleasure of shadowing a community activist who works for a group called Heritage Community Initiatives.  This particular group helps the Braddock area in three main ways: transportation, job training, and education.  They provide vans to get people around town and to the major bus stops that connect to Pittsburgh proper.  Instructional sessions are provided to educate unemployed adults on "green" jobs.  Most impressively, though, in my mind is the school the group runs.  It's called 4 Kids, and it is an "early education learning center," meaning that it is specifically for kids 6 months to 5 years old and serves as preparation for entrance into kindergarten.  Two amazing statistics stood out to me regarding the school: 1) over 1/5 of students from Braddock repeat a grade during primary or secondary school.  Only 2% of 4 Kids graduates eventually repeat a grade; 2) For every $1 spent at 4 Kids, $10 are saved by the local school district later in the educational process.

The best part of the day was actually visiting the school.  We stopped by during lunch time, during which the kids are provided a healthy, balanced meal.  After a tour of the facilities, we spent some time shadowing the 5 year olds.  One five year old ran up to me and told me he could spell his name.  He proudly told me all of the letters while he followed along with a name tag at his chair.  In an area that has astronomical levels of adult illiteracy, this to mean was an incredible mark of the difference 4 Kids is making.

It was extremely inspiring to see such triumph in the face of such adversity.  Hopefully, it's a sign of good things to come in Braddock.

Until tomorrow,

Brittany

Real Live Patients

You can't be a doctor if you don't have patients.  Plain and simple.  Luckily, this week, I have actually started to interact with some!  Due to obvious privacy policies, I can't give a ton of specifics.  BUT I can say that I got take part in interviewing a cystic fibrosis patient about the "patient experience" on Tuesday.

Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that primarily affects the lungs and pancreas.  It creates a mucus layer on the surface of the lungs that makes breathing difficult.  Unfortunately, though much progress has been made, the median age at death for CF patients is 35-38 years old.

Getting to interact with a CF patient, hearing the stories of doctors visits, and trying to understand the perspective of the one receiving care was extremely meaningful.

It's so important for me to keep in mind over the next four years that no matter what science I have to learn or which test is coming up, I am ultimately here to help other people.  I am here for my future patients.  I'm grateful that my medical school makes that such an obvious lesson from the beginning.  It would be so easy to jump right into anatomy and get lost in memorization, but the time spent reflecting on those we will ultimately be serving is well worth it.

I have two more patient experiences this week.  Tomorrow, I will get to meet diabetes patients and on Friday HIV/AIDS patients.

I also have some significant updates on my emotional public health experience today - look for that entry tomorrow.

Until then,
Brittany

Near Death Experience in Raft 8.7

Today was the final day of orientation social week activities, and we went out with a bang: whitewater rafting.  I have been whitewater rafting twice before.  The first time, I was in junior high and went with Girl Scouts.  The second time, I was in junior high and went on a family reunion.  Conclusion: It has been a long time for me!

I, along with two med school girls, headed down to Ohiopyle, PA, around an hour and a half outside of Pittsburgh.  We met up with the rest of the PittMed-ers and formed groups of six.  My group of six was five girls and one guy, and our assigned raft was number 8.7.  Of the fifteen other groups, no one else had a "decimal-point" raft nor had our five girls:one guy ratio.  From the beginning, we stood out.

The rafting started out OK; we got stuck on a few rocks.  Before departing we were taught this technique in which everyone in the raft moves to opposite of the section caught on the rock and bounces up and down really hard to wiggle the raft free.  I could not take this seriously AT ALL and just burst into a fit of laughter every time we tried the bounce technique.

Around 2 hours into the trip, we came up on the "Dimple Rapids."  There were posted signs along the river that walking was an option at this particular point, which automatically made me wary.  The guides then described the way we would approach this rapid, saying that we needed to follow the hand signals of one guide who would be standing visibly on a rock.  They also explained that we might capsize and go underneath a rock, but that we would likely "come right back out."  UM, WHAT??

Before tackling the "Dimple Rapids," raft 8.7 tried to build up some positive energy.  We were about in the middle of the pack and had the opportunity to watch other groups go before us.  As we watched, we decided that it didn't seem too difficult and that we could definitely make it through.

When our turn came, we paddled hard toward the rapid.  Up ahead, a guide was flagging commands at us.  "Paddle left!  Paddle right!  Stop paddling!  All forward!"  Then, all of a sudden, he got this look on his face that read, "Oh shit, there's nothing else I can tell them to do."  With a huge force, our raft struck the rock that the guide was standing out and catapulted vertically.  We all spilled out into the cold, rushing, scary water.  I could feel my raft mates fall on top of me and panicked that I was feeling the underside of a rock.  Luckily, I surfaced pretty quickly.  Unluckily, I now had to save myself.  Before I had any idea what was happening, a rope bag was thrown my direction, and I grabbed on along with one of the girls from my raft.  I allowed myself to be pulled in.  That is, until raft 8.7 broke free from the rock, tore through the rapid, and smacked the two of us in the head.  It didn't really hurt - I was wearing a helmet, and it was only a blown up raft, but it was really uncomfortable and made holding onto the rope impossible.  I let go, and tried hard to remember "Nose and Toes," a saying the guides went over during training that meant we were to keep our heads and feet above water.  As I bumped down the rapid, my hiney scraped on roughly 6 rocks.  It was seriously unpleasant.  Finally, one of the guides had me grab onto her kayak and she paddled me to shore, where I waited for the rescue boat to pick me up.  At the bottom of the rapid, when the water had calmed down, we were reunited with raft 8.7.

The rest of day, I was very wary of falling in and unemployed a new general strategy: "If the water gets rough, fall into the boat, not out of it."  Raft 8.7 finished the trip strong, and after the "Dimple Rapids" we didn't have any issues.

Now, I'm completely exhausted and ready to rest up for the first day of actual class tomorrow.

Until then,
B

Not So Glamorous (Yet)

So far, medical school hasn't been what one might picture.  This is mostly due to the fact that I'm only technically in orientation right now.  Instead of learning about the human body or working on medical interviewing, I've been spending my days sitting in a lecture hall listening to financial aid or honor code presentations or engaging in diversity training.  While I recognize that most of it is necessary, this set-up doesn't really create any exciting medical moments for me to share.

My evenings have been devoted to 1) napping, primarily because I have had to wake up at 6:00 on multiple occasions this week; 2) social events, such as last night's dinner cruise on Pittsburgh's three rivers; 3) wrapping up work in my lab.

Tomorrow night our social event is a night out at the Hofbrahaus, which I am eagerly anticipating.  On Sunday, I'm going whitewater rafting with a group of 40 or so students, which I am even more eagerly anticipating.

I promise that when exciting, doctor-related things start happening, my updates will become more exciting.  For now though, this is all I've got.

Signing off from the 'burgh,
Britt

It's Official: I'm a Med Student!

This weekend was WHITE COAT WEEKEND.

On Friday, I had my very last day of lab work.  It was actually bittersweet.  On the one hand, I was super excited to have one lab rotation behind me and was definitely ready for medical school to start.  On the other, I really liked my lab and the people in it.  I'm planning on staying in touch and am seriously considering the lab as an option for my year-long research project (which will take place during my third year overall).

Friday night, my mom came!  I was such a good daughter, too - I cleaned all of my floors, washed my sheets, and ran the dishwasher in anticipation of her arrival.  She got in around 8:45, and we walked down to Walnut Street for gelato.  Even though it didn't taste like real Italian gelato, it was pretty freaking good (especially my scoop of raspberry truffle - yummm).

On Saturday, we packed in a LOT of activities.  First up was breakfast at Pamela's (sadly, not the same thing as breakfast at Tiffany's).  Pamela's is the breakfast place that Andrew and I tried, and the pancakes were still delicious the second time around.  After stuffing ourselves full of breakfast food, we went to to the Andy Warhol Museum.  I feel like I'm finally able to get around this city; I got us there without a map or printed directions, and we didn't get lost at all. The Andy Warhol Museum was unlike any museum I've experienced.  There was a really neat mix of his video/photography/pop art work.  More impressively (or at least I think so), the museum also has over 600 "time capsules" that Warhol created.  They contain everything from letters to paintings to newspaper headlines.  The staff there is working on archiving them.  I don't know when they started, but they won't be done until 2014!  The museum also has some pretty weird rooms, one whole collection was entitled "Sex Parts and Torsos" - my mom's reflection, "Andy Warhol was one strange dude."

Following the Warhol, we went to the Strip (a recurring theme when I have visitors).  Then, we went out to Ikea so that I could get a loveseat.  My living room was looking pretty empty, and I needed more seating.  This was mostly a good idea.  I say mostly and not completely because my mom and I didn't really think through "getting the loveseat into my second floor apartment."  It was heavy, and we are not very strong.  When we were trying to get it out of the car, this nice guy and his wife pulled their SUV over and asked if we needed help. em-bar-ras-sing.  We finally managed to come up with a roll maneuver that got the damn thing up the stairs.

We capped off Saturday with shopping on Walnut, sushi, and Julie and Julia.  All of which were very enjoyable :-)

Today, my dad, Sean, and Andrew all arrived around 11:00.  We did lunch nearby, after which my dad had to drop me off for the ceremony.  For some ridiculous reason, the students had to arrive at 1:00 for the 3:00 ceremony.  The school wanted to take official pictures of us, but that only lasted until around 1:40, leaving us around an hour to "talk amongst ourselves."

When the ceremony finally started, we processed into the auditorium and filed into rows alphabetically.  There were a couple of remarks; the keynote speaker was actually fantastic - the best I've heard at any graduation/ceremony like this one.  Then, the Dean of Student Affairs read our names off and we "got coated."  I feel like a real medical student now!  We also took the Hippocratic Oath (again, very medical-student-like) and I took a ton pictures with my family.  After we went out for a celebratory dinner, everyone headed home, leaving me here, ready to start school tomorrow!

I'm sure you all want to know what I look like in a white coat, so here are some pictures :-)

I'm getting "coated"

Walking off stage, wearing my coat

Walking up the steps, in my coat

Not an alumnus yet, but someday!

Andrew and I

The O'Neill clan

This Could Only Happen to Me....

Yesterday, I was planning to work primarily from my apartment.  I'm essentially done with lab work, but I need to finish up some write-ups and I need to get some forms filled out for medical school orientation.  I was working on all of that from home when I got a call from one of the rotation students in my lab.  Here's how the conversation went:

Him: Hey Brittany, are you coming in for the lab picture today?
Me: Um, what picture?
Him: The lab picture at 1:30
Me: (Looks at clock, it is 1:12 and I have wet hair and am wearing sweat pants) I don't think I can make it by 1:30
Him: Well, the boss wants everyone it, so pretty yourself up and get here as soon as possible.

I tore through my apartment, threw on some clothes, slapped on some make-up, and headed out of the door.

While I was driving there, I was innocently sitting in a right turn lane at a red light, when a lady side swiped my car!  I didn't even realize what was happening until my side-view mirror popped inward (they're collapsible, thank goodness), and I laid on my horn.  The lady said there was another driver she was trying to avoid when she hit me, but I wasn't really aware of what was going on to my left.  Luckily, there was no obvious damage to my car (my dad is going to look at this weekend to make sure).  We exchanged info, and I still made it work in time to have my picture taken!

Born-Again Athlete

Here are the headlines from the world of Britt:

I'm a born-again athlete!  For those of you who didn't know me in high school, I used to be a cross-country and track athlete.  I was never great, but I was also never terrible, just kind of somewhere in the middle.  As a result of those activities, I did a lot of running.  So much running, in fact, that I was voted "Best Legs" by the marching band my senior year (forget medical school - that is a lifetime accomplishment!)  Since high school ended, though, I have only sporadically exercised.  I've gone to the gym every once in a while, and played REALLY low-impact "D" league rec soccer.  All of that is about to change - I'm going to run a 10K!  There's a race in Pittsburgh in eight weeks called the "Great Race" which is almost entirely downhill (my kind of race).  I found an on-line training program for novices that maps out eight weeks' worth of work-outs.  I also have been using an awesome tool - mapmyrun.com - that uses google maps and allows me to draw in routes and determine their distances.  So far, it's day three of training, and I'm chugging along - updates will follow.

This week is also important because it's my last week in the lab.  Doesn't it seem like it's gone by so fast?  I'm currently wrapping up all of my work and drafting an abstract and poster for an upcoming presentation at my program's annual retreat.  The last week in the lab is also significant because it means THAT I START MEDICAL SCHOOL NEXT WEEK.

(Side note - The amount of emails that I am getting from the medical school is beginning to rival the amount of email that I got from the University Ambassadors.  Yikes.)

Final headline - I put up new wall art - pictures will follow tomorrow!

Until then :-)

Britt

Home Sweet Home

Britt went to Columbus!  Here are the top four highlights from my trip in chronological order:

Night out on the town with fellow University Ambassadors (shout outs to Shawn, Corey, and Vince as promised!)  A group of us went to the Short North Tavern, obviously located in the Short North - too much fun was had by all.

My roommate Amanda's bridal shower was Saturday.  It was the last "roommate" thing of the summer, which is kind of bittersweet, but the food was delicious, I won a game, and Amanda got great presents, which all made it better.

Saturday night was a dinner with some of my favorite Pickerington favs followed by hanging out with Andrew.  I got a spinach and artichoke dip filled deep dish pizza - whoever created it had me in mind! (I'm telling you, I'm obsessed!)

My mom and I went to check out the Titanic exhibit at COSI on Sunday.  It was a little pricey, primarily because they make you buy full museum admission on top of the ticket to the exhibit.  That aside, it was awesome!  When you get there, they give you a boarding pass of an actual person who was on the Titanic with some facts about his or her life.  Then, at the end of the exhibit is a list of all the survivors and deceased - you can see if you made it, and I did!  The exhibit also featured a life-size replica of the main staircase and the front page of the Columbus Dispatch immediately following the sinking.  If you live in Ohio, check it out before Labor Day :-)

As you can see, it was a pretty good weekend!  Now, panic is setting in as medical school begins in exactly one week - yikes!

Until tomorrow,

B

Also....

.....you should probably watch this video.  It is hilarious.

I'm a user!

A Netflix user that is!

During the "to get cable or not" decision-making process, I realized that how fantastically Netflix could solve all my problems.  It's only $9 a month - not $45.  I can stream from the internet.  There are entire seasons of TV shows available.  AMAZING.

I put off signing-up until my internet was fully functional, and yet I am already a believer.  So far, I have watched season 3 of The Office (I got seasons 1 and 2 for my birthday and just couldn't stop!) and I have created a "Q" of movies that I want mailed to me.

Technically, I'm still in the "free trial" stage, but I will shortly be a full-fledged paying customer!

Also, I'm going home tomorrow!  Britt Goes to Columbus!

Until tomorrow,
B

Nerd-Alert!

This past weekend when I made my journey to Cedar Point, I decided that I actually needed a book-on-tape and picked one up at the library.  (I'm telling, they make drives sooo much better!)

The b-o-t that I checked out is called Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult who's most famous book is probably My Sister's Keeper.  Without looking at the b-o-t, I checked it out from the Carnegie Library and planned to start it on my car trip.  Bright and early Saturday morning, I opened the b-o-t case and discovered that there are SEVENTEEN CD's to the freaking thing.  I then, for the first time, flipped over the case and discovered that the total run-time is TWENTY-ONE HOURS.  Seriously!  So on my 6-hour trip, I only got through 4 CDs.  The bad thing is that the book is really good, like if it were a written book, I would be reading it constantly.  It's not a written book, though, and I also haven't had to use my car at all this entire week.  As a result, I have started listening to the b-o-t in my apartment. On my DVD player.  All the time.  It's kind of like I would imagine listening to the radio would have been before TV existed, except that TV does exist and there is not a single reason to actually listen to a b-o-t on a DVD player.

Countdown to my trip home: 2 days

Countdown to the start of medical school: 11 days

Where has summer gone?!

<3, Britt

Cedar Point/the Cleve

This weekend was spent at Cedar Point and in Cleveland and as a direct result was a huge success.  

Before I get to that action though, let me say that my lab continues to be amazing.  On Friday, at 2:00, we all went to this sports bar called Buffalo Blues and ate, drank, and played darts for over four hours.  I'm actually not bad at darts which is extremely surprising considering that a large amount of aim is involved, and I'm generally not allowed to toss anything, ever.  I capped off that evening with a walk around the neighborhood and some laundry.  

On Saturday, things really started to get interesting.  Here's something that baffles me.  It takes me just over three hours to drive from my apartment in Pittsburgh to my house on OSU's campus.  It took me just under three hours to get from my apartment in Pittsburgh to Cedar Point.  Confusing?  I definitely think so, yet magically I left my place in the 'burgh at 7:00 AM and arrived in Cedar Point's parking lot before 10.  

Before I continue with tales of my day, let me give you some advice.  Never drive into an amusement park by yourself.  I was in the car alone because the rest of my party was en route from Columbus.  I got some of the saddest looks ever.  People's faces read. "Oh, that's sad.  She came to Cedar Point by herself."  When I pulled up to pay for parking, the girl who took my money leaned forward to look into my car, as if she was trying to determine if I had actually come alone.  I wanted to say, "I'M MEETING PEOPLE!" but it didn't seem worth it.

When my Andrew and my roommates Darci and Amanda and Amanda's fiancé Eric and Eric's coworker Kevin (crazy group, huh?) arrived, I was waiting at the gates, trying to look engrossed in my map and avoid looks of pity from passers-by.  The six of us moved through the park pretty efficiently.  We hit all of the coasters that I was looking forward to - Millennium Force, Magnum, Raptor, and the new one, the Maverick.  For those who haven't been to Cedar Point since the Maverick opened, I would strongly suggest riding it, even if you have to wait in line for an hour.  Speaking of lines, I freely admit that I am somewhat annoying to wait with because if the line is long enough, I will make people play games.  Even if they don't want to at first (which Darci didn't), my persistence is such that by the time fifteen minutes have gone by, they will give in (which Darci did!).  We played the alphabet game: I'm going on a trip and I'm bringing aerosol hairspray, and Brittany, and carrots, and so on until you get to the letter z (zookeeper!).  I loved every minute of it.  Plus, I am a firm believer that game-playing makes the lines seem shorter.  

The only major downside to Cedar Point was the heat.  I'm not sure how hot it actually got, but the forecast was over 90, and it definitely felt that way.  Halfway through the day, we escaped to Snoopyland to eat at the Joe Cool Cafe simply because it was indoors and (weakly) air-conditioned.  While we were in the cafe, our waitress asked if we would be doing one big check or separate, and we responded, "separate."  Andrew and I were just getting a pizza and splitting it though, and when the waitress came to us, he said, "Well, we're ACTUALLY together." (major emphasis on the actually, like "believe it or not but we're together").  He knows how to make me feel special!  Our whole table got a pretty good laugh out of it.

Following Cedar Point, I made the hour and fifteen minute drive to Cleveland where I spent the rest of the weekend with my family and my good friend, Chris, who I met on a short term study abroad trip to London my freshman year and who also was a fellow OSU tour guide.

Now, I'm back in Pittsburgh with only two weeks to go until orientation.  It's crazy how fast this summer has gone! 

Until tomorrow, 

Britt

The 12 types of medical students

This is definitely worth sharing:

http://theunderweardrawer.homestead.com/twelvemedstudents.html

I would love to hear speculations on which one I'll be :-)

The world we live in

Two really incredible shifts happened this week that I'd like to share.

1) China has overtaken the US as the leading consumer of power.  This seems scary to me.

2) There are now more electronic books sold on Amazon than actual cover-pages-cover books.  This seems sad to me.

Personally, I think that both of those shifts speak volumes about the way in which our world is changing.

In local "Britt Goes to Pitt" news, my efforts to watch AFI's top 100 movies continue, and I can now cross Casablanca and Singing in the Rain off of my list.  I'm trying to get a hold of the number one movie of all time, Citizen Kane, but it's checked out at the library. 

I also will make a triumphant return to hot yoga tonight.  To prep, I have been drinking water all day.  Bring on the sweat!


Britt

Driving, driving, driving

So, this past weekend, I drove home and back.  The drive only takes around 3 hours, which honestly isn't that bad.  It's MUCH more tolerable if you have good music or a book on tape (b-o-t) to listen to.  I had intended to check a b-o-t out from the library last week, but I completely forgot and I left my ipod in Pittsburgh, so I was stuck with the static of the radio between the Pittsburgh and Columbus stations.  This left me some serious time to think about my drive.  Here are my thoughts:

1.  When the department of transportation workers make the exit signs that tells what's available at each stop, they're really really liberal with the word "attraction."  For example, is the Southeastern Pennsylvannia Trolley Museum really attracting a significant number of guests?  Are there people in the world who see that listed under the attractions section of a road sign and think, "MAN! I NEED to get off at that exit!"?

2.  Whoever decides when to do road construction in the state of West Virginia should really consider a different career.  Right before I got to Wheeling, I was forced to get off of I-70 and onto I-470 for a stretch of about 10 miles.  Apparently, I-70 is under construction and is limited to local traffic only.  Well, that's totally fine, BUT when I switched to I-470, it was shut down to one lane due to construction.  To me, if you make one highway a detour for another highway, you should promptly start construction on both.  If I'm going to sit in construction at all, why the heck did I change highways to do it?

3. "Pittsburgh highways must have been designed by a kid with Roller Coaster Tycoon" - my father.  Truer words were never spoken.

Additionally, I have internet at my apartment!  For those of you wondering "Gee Brittany, if you didn't have internet, how have you been posting at night?" I would like to plead the fifth.  It was a huge ordeal to get it set up though.  I opted, based partially on price and terrible reviews of Comcast, to go with Verizon as my internet provider.  They send you everything you need to set up the internet, and then you do it yourself (meaning no $100 installation fee!)  I got the box in the mail, and then waited until my installation day (July 19th) arrived.  The set-up seemed really easy.  It was along the lines of 1) plug in modem 2) connect modem to phone line 3) connect computer to modem.  Once that was completed, the green "internet" was supposed to flash on the modem, meaning everything was correct.  My green light did nothing.  I tried multiple power outlets and phone line jacks.  Still nothing.  Frustrated, I called the number provided for tech support on my instructions.  As a part of their calling prompts, I was asked to give the phone number of my account, so I keyed in my cell number.  All of a sudden, this recording came on that says "As of July 1st, Verizon is no longer the internet provider of your service.  Your provider is now Fronteir, and their number is 1-888-blah-blah." Then, the call was ended.  The recording left me confused, but I figured I might as well try the other number.  I got ahold of someone at Fronteir, and he asked which state I am in.  I replie, "Pennsylvania."  He answered, "We don't actually service your state through this call center, but I can transfer you."  At this point, I was really getting angry, but I kept my cool during the transfer.  Again, I was prompted to key in my phone number, and again I got the "you're-now-with-Fronteir-call-this-number" message, and the call ended.  I called the Frontier number again, and explained what to operator number 2.  He finally pieces everything together.  Frontier did buy out Verizon internet in Ohio, which matches the area code of the phone number I was keying in.  They did not but out Verizon in Pennsylvania.  Right as he was going through this explanation, my green internet came on, all of its own free will.  Not kidding.

Tonight I plan to craft and watch Casablanca - should be a good time :-)

Britt