Last Class

Yesterday I delivered my last class presentation in my last class in the DPT curriculum; it's a strange and great feeling! I am finally free to just work in the lab, do my 4th clinical rotation, get through my dissertation and of course do all my wifely duties. ;-)

Yesterday was also Britton's birthday, he received gifts and a card after coming home late from the library. Unfortunately, he had a test on his birthday and then had to go study for another test the next day. Today Britton is finishing his pediatrics rotation and taking his last exam for his last rotation in his 3rd year of medical school.

Britton's cousin, Foster, and his wife, Leslie, are coming to spend the night with us tonight (yay!) so I'm sure we will have an opportunity to celebrate Britton's birthday properly! :-)

We are excited to be starting a new chapter in our lives (even if it reads similarly to the old chapter) in our 4th years of school/clinical rotations.

Car strike

The last time I bought gas was on April 27th. It was so expensive that I decided to see how long I could go without buying gas again. So I road my bike as often as I could, I even bought a basket so I could ride my bike to the grocery store. I had to make one car trip to Augusta and a few longish Columbia trips or trips after dark. Otherwise, I've been a proud cyclist and went almost 7 weeks on one tank of gas! I finally had to break down and fill up yesterday.

When my family visited China, we saw many cyclists carrying a lot more than groceries on their bikes! Relatively, I'm still kind of a slacker. ;-)

Check out this neat site that maps out the average gas prices in the U.S. and zoom in to find the cheapest gas in your city!

One door closed and two more opened!

On Tuesday morning, I was told that my August-October clinical internship, that has been planned for months, folded. The person who was going to be my clinical instructor left Lexington hospital to take a job in another state and I was out of luck.

Twenty-four hours later, I now have two 6 week internships instead of one 12 week internship, which is fine with me. The neat part is that my first 6 weeks will be in a PT practice in Myrtle Beach that specializes in women's health issues. This is of particular interest to me so I'm thrilled to have this new opportunity. My new Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill (from Britton's family but I'll claim them too!) have graciously offered to put a roof over my head in Myrtle Beach and I bet we'll have some fun too. My 2nd 6 weeks will be at an orthopedic clinic here in Columbia.

Meanwhile, I have one more week of my LAST class in PT school (!!!) and we are just trying to survive the heat that we have been having, it's been at or near 100 for several days, ugh.

Birthday II

Last night Britton gave me a sweet homemade birthday card and beautiful pearl earrings. He took me out to a really nice romantic dinner and then we drove out to the lake to watch the sunset! Did I pick out a good husband or what?! :-)

Birthday

Today I celebrated the big 2-8 with friends at a sushi bar. My sweet husband was on call all night and sadly missed the celebration. A special thanks to those who sent me cards, e-cards, and greetings on facebook and a especially those who helped me celebrate!

Proposal

Today was the big day! I've been doing background research on instructional designs and behavior theories, collecting articles, and drafting a proposal for many months. I'm designing a patient education brochure about the effects of exercise on breast cancer outcomes. Today I finally proposed my dissertation project in front of the director of my program, a committee, and thankfully, my friend, Alicia. My project is not the standard research report that the faculty is used to, so there was definitely pressure to deliver the proposal well. A successful proposal gains the committee's approval to proceed with the dissertation. Today was not just successful, it was fantastic! The director of our program said that he was very impressed with my presentation and offered to provide funding for graphic design help and printing! I'm shocked!!! Financial assistance is NOT traditionally offered to grad students for dissertations. I received compliments from my committee and suggestions to present my final research (later in the year) to the public/patient/health care audiences. My project is approved and I'm feeling very honored by such a positive response! What a great day!

This is also a great day because this is my parents' 35th wedding aniversary! Congratulations! (and thanks for procreating!)