Eh....It's Not Really that Bad

So after a week of insanity, I made some very important decisions.

1. It's ok to be behind. Just a little bit. Because then the wet lab will clear out and you won't lose your mind in the hustle bustle of the people that insist on being the first to get checked off. Who needs that? And there's PLENTY of time to catch up. Plenty.

2. Organization is key to success. Because success requires that you turn things in on time and don't get behind. 15 mins saved here and there can add up!

3. It's important to stop working and eat lunch.

4. Working in a group is always a plus.

5. Going in on the weekend is ok. Just for a little bit.

Top 10 Reasons I'd Rather Be Studying Gross Anatomy

10. You can study gross anywhere: couch, bed, Starbucks, bathtub.

9. You can watch the olympics while studying gross.

8. Studying gross anatomy doesn't involve the phrase "Crap, now I have to retake the impression."

7. The brachial plexus is way more interesting than scraping alginate out of your rubber bowl for the 15th time.

6. You can study gross while eating or drinking (well, except in the cadaver lab).

5. Working in the cadaver lab may smell funny, but does not smell like defeat.

4. Listening to Dr. Hutchins' sound effects is more entertaining than the screech of the trimmer.

3. My gross notes are way more organized than my lab station.

2. My sim head isn't slimy and wet, but he can't provide hours of endless dissecting fun, either.

1. Surgical blade beats buffalo knife anyday.

D2- Day 1

Today was good but a little crazy. It started a little early for me...6:15! I left the house at 7:00 and got to school around 7:30 with time to spare even though it was raining and there was a little traffic. I also broke my back windshield wiper - turned it on and it snapped in two! I parked in the D2 lot - what a blessing - so much closer to school and less 6 floors of parking garage to go up! - and lugged a bunch of stuff to my desk. I took a lot of it to Lauren's desk and left her a piece of brown paper and a note + the books she bought from me and some other goodies I just wanted to get rid of. Good fun. So then I rushed to grab some tea and a granola bar which I couldn't eat before class started so I hid them in my drawer and tried to catch my breath (they're really being sticklers about this no eating in the lab thing this year...)

Sitting way in the back of the room, I could get away with quietly transferring my D1 tackle boxes into my new ones since the old ones don't fit in these drawers (go figure!) Turns out Monday mornings will be a bit of a blow off and we'll actually get to sleep in some - YAY! We got out early and I had time to get my parking permit and a hole punched in my ID card. Went to make some hot chocolate because my new citrus green tea was uber nasty and got "caught" by Moira *roll my eyes* getting water out of the hot water tap in the D1 lab. Why can't we have a hot water tap in our lab? I miss it so much.

Next was 2 hours of pathology and I must admit...I dozed. Just a little during the second hour. I'm not used to sitting and doing nothing for extended periods of time.

A long lunch followed with a no show from Karen (probably stuck in clinic) but a lot of others came and joined. We then had fixed for an hour before group B got to leave early.

So, I went to Walmart. Needed a few office supplies and some more storage solutions and some bread and parmesan for dinner tonight. I lost my ID badge somewhere in the store and I'm hoping I'll get a call tonight that someone turned it in. If not, oh well.

A lot of us are a little nervous about jumping into all of this, but probably not as nervous as the D3s who had fillings and root canals to perform on real patients this morning. Yikes!

But I Don't Wanna Go...

Ok, it's not so bad. School hasn't even really started, and I've already loved seeing everybody again (we had a side-splitting, wrinkle-making get-together last night) and getting my STUFF ready to go. I'm such a sucker for organization. In fact, while I was up at the school all afternoon getting the insane amounts of supplies we got on Friday in some semblance of order, I noted that several of my classmates had gone and bought label makers. As crazy as it may be, I have always eyed and envied those little devices that print out those neat little stickers that can say whatever you want and stick on whatever you want. Every end-of-summer trip to Target consisted of a few moments in front of the label makers trying to justify the need for one in the lab *and it really would have been GREAT in the lab* and I would always back down and just buy more markers or scissors or something. So now I'm really tempted. I mean, really. So far, the term "orientation" in dental school means "we have 7 HUGE boxes of expensive stuff that you need to come and account for and then cram into the 2 lockers and 4 little drawers that we have for you." It's always a task to figure out which upperclassman to believe when it comes to what to buy, and I've done a pretty good job so far feeling out which way to go. I have a few things to return, but we'll see. I might actually end up using some of it since I can't use any of what I bought last year. But that's ok, too. See, I got to buy the really cool scrapbooking organizer I've also eyed for a while now. So this "Christmas in August" is over and almost all of my new dental goodies are carefully tucked away in the closet ready for me to play with them on Monday.