The Waiting Game...

Last Wednesday I submitted my choices for my acute care internship...now it's just wait and see :) For those of you who I haven't told much about my program here's the way it works...

The first two years of the three year program we spend in the classroom, cramming our heads full of anatomy, physiology, tests and clinical reasoning skills. Amazingly enough, that two year block comes to an end for me this summer in early August. We have one, short four week clinical in the summer between our first and second years. I spent my time at Apple Physical Therapy in Federal Way brushing up on my outpatient skills. During the third year, we have three different 10 week clinicals, one each quarter in the following areas: rehab, acute care (hospital) and outpatient orthopedic. One must be out of the Seattle area, and from all four, including our first four-weeker, one must be in a rural location.

We pick clinicals based on calendar year, not academic year, so last year we picked for 2009 - our first 10 week clinical in the fall. I'll be at St. Luke's Rehab Hospital Pediatric Outpatient Clinic doing a pediatric internship which counts as my rehab clinical. I'm SUPER excited about this one because the more I'm in the program, the more I'm sure I want to do pediatrics. I'm excited for the hands-on experience. Now we're picking for 2010. Acute sites are submitted and I'm hoping to stay in the Seattle area, so we'll see what happens. The plan in the back of my mind is that if I get to do my acute in Seattle, I can head north to Bellingham and do my outpatient/rural internship in that area. We'll see..thankfully in about three weeks I'll finally know what my year next year will look like.

On a completely unrelated topic...I'm most definitely a fan of our new Major League Soccer Team, the Sounders FC who are starting off with a great season. Seattle has been so overtaken with soccer love that the Pemco Insurance Company added a new Northwest Profile poking fun at the soccer fans: The "I know I am, I'm sure I am" Sounders FC Fan. They played the Colorado Rapids on Saturday - check out this article in the Denver Post about the sheer awesomeness of our team! The Rapids are in Seattle tomorrow for a qualifying match for the US Open Cup and I'm going! It will be my first Sounders game - the game on Saturday ended in a 2-2 draw so Tuesday's game should be a great rematch to watch!!

Another video...for our Mom during her special month.

I saw this on another blog I subscribe to, by Greg and Jennifer Willits hosts of the Sirius satellite radio show "The Catholics Next Door" and the creators of the Rosary Army Apostolate. This video is so well done, has some great music and is all around fabulous. Enjoy!!

The whole Bible in 60 Seconds!

That's right! Courtesy of Barats and Bereta of Gonzaga University fame. My brother sent me this on Facebook. Enjoy!

The Importance of Every Day

I've been working my way through "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens lately, trying to find moments here and there to read for pleasure. Because I've been mostly reading it fits and starts, I sometimes have to flip back earlier in the book to remind myself of this or that detail. While doing so today, I found this quote I'd underlined a while back and thought I'd share :)

"That was a memorable day to me, for in made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

Scary, scary stuff

Pray for Sweden...let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come:

Gender-based Abortion

The Curse of the Senioritis

If any of you read my Facebook status update you may have noticed that I kept posting about some dratted midterm. Well it's done and in, finally, and despite having over a week to get it done...I turned it at about 4:52 (it was due at 5:00). With only two quarters, well actually a quarter and a half now, left in the classroom before my clinicals start and I am meeting up back up with a near and dear friend.

We first met my junior year of high school, and were close friends for the next couple of years. Then he disappeared for a little bit, only to reappear in my last quarter of college. We haven't seen each other for over four years now, but guess what? He's back, and his name is Senioritis, now a la Grad School. This quarter my schedule has blessedly gotten less intense and the pressure has dropped off by a lot. At the same time it's harder to get motivated, more tempting to sleep in just a little later, and easier to push that homework assignment to the very last second. *Sigh* - it may be a long couple of quarters, but we're hitting the home stretch now, and the end is in sight!

Another Life Teen Year Behind Us

Hard to believe, but last night marked the passing of another Life Teen year, and my four and a half year mark working in high school youth ministry. I've felt myself grow more and more every year, and I am constantly trying to give 100% to these amazing teens. This year has been a challenge as school projects and exams would tend to rear their ugly head at the most inopportune times, and as usual it's been quite the lesson in time management!

By far one of the greatest gifts this year was getting to work more than usual with our senior class. We have been blessed with a group of about 7 teens who are so involved in the program and are always willing to step in and share of their gifts. They are the first class that I've seen go from day one freshman year to graduation. Working on them as the spring retreat approached I realized how lucky our community was to have them and how much they will be missed next year. I know, though, that they will be blessing new communities next year and that's a beautiful thing! We have some great teens stepping up to take their place next year too.

Next fall will mark the first time in nearly five years that I take a hiatus from youth ministry…so hard to believe!! I'll be in Spokane, doing my first clinical, and trust me, I'm really excited for that too. But I do have a funny feeling I'll back at this as soon as I can be :)

I'm thankful to this program for the blessing it's been, for it's faithfulness to the Magisterium and it's exhortations to the teens to trust their Holy Mother Church in all her wisdom.

Always a fun ride, and of course when the last night of the year is an 80's dance, how can it not be fun?


Jim and I rocking out to "Tainted Love" (pic credit: Heather Schreiner)