Hurray for Spring Break

Finals Week was killer. So much so that I apparently couldn't write about it till now. During the week people were only getting 3 to 5 hours of sleep each night, and you would hear people say all sorts of loopy, crazy things. (Hence the comic above. The last panel is exactly the sort of stuff you would hear.)

So after the last test the Cluff's were good enough to invite all the members of our impromptu study group over to their house for homemade Costa Vida burros. (I personally have never been there, but their version was great.)

After that it was time to relax and play a little Guitar Hero.

Even Mom Bitter got in on the act...




All in all spring break went way too fast. And personally I was way to apathetic and wiped out to get any of my major home improvement errands done. But Friday & Saturday the weather was great, so we got outside to do a little yard clean up.


We set Lily on some blankets so she could be near us, but she hated being by herself. She also was terrified of the grass, and had to crawl backwards to feel sort of comfortable.

Once she got onto something else she was off and running (crawling).

Lily Maye 1 - Parents 0

So it's Sunday afternoon and we just tried to lay Lily down & she would have none of it. For some reason it reminded me that I owe all the people back home some Lily Mae pic's. So here they are:

Lily demands to eat like an adult. (ie. Give her finger foods so she can 'feed' herself.) Here is her first try at a biscuit.

She also has had a go at makeup.




We recently spent alot of time teaching Lily to climb stairs. Any guesses why?



I often wake up to subtle reminders of who is in charge here. Hint: It's not me.

-Andrew

Just when I was about to build an ark....

Last week we really had a couple of nice days here. Highs in the low 60's, you could walk around with out the normal 5 coats and actually enjoy the day. Then it started raining. For a while it was a nice change, then we had thunderstorm warnings for 5 days straight & even a tornado watch south of us. So what do we get for putting up with all the suffering (in addition to finals week, which I have already beat into the ground). Highs around 26 degrees (without counting the 15-20 mph winds).

I really do enjoy Kirksville for the people and the slow paced lifestyle... but the weather stinks.

Andrew

Maybe you have spent too much time in Histo lab...

Recently we had a big Histology Image exam at school and I think I spent probably 8 hours looking through a microscope (on top of regular study) just to get ready for it (and the minor quiz that led up to it). Towords the end you probably could have pointed out anything and I would have been "yeah, I see that." (Much like cloud watching I imagine). A few days later I came upon this cartoon and it made me smile.

School is in "Do or Die" mode right now as we are coming to the final week of this quarter. One of my classmates called it our own version of "Hell Week" like the Navy Seals go through. Only with less physical trials and more mental games. ("What's that? You want me to prep for 7 tests in one week covering everything I've learned in the last 3 months. Oh, and the last one has probably 300 pages of lecture 'notes'? Sure, Why not?"

Other than school life is pretty good here. Amanda's work is going well, Her mom was kind enough to fly out here and take care of us (read: Lily) while I go insane, and Lily is systematically taking over our home. No matter how we try to stop her, she finds away to get around our plans. She is like the dang Energizer Bunny incarnate. More on that next time.

Till Then,

Andrew

And I used to freak out about Junior High.....

It's 10:34pm on a Saturday night and I am doing what I have always done for the last couple months worth of Saturdays. Study right up till Midnight (obviously with a few breaks scattered in). If thats not enough I typically get up at 4 am on Monday before the test to cram too.

I am not trying to complain. I am used to this by now. It's just funny how grade oriented my life has become. So to my school enrolled friends and family I say just relax. Pass the class and odds are no one will care what the grade was. (But it does lessen your apprehension for the final considerably if you ace your regular tests :-)

Andrew

February

Lily is just about to turn 9 months old in a few days. Honestly I can't believe it. I was discussing it with a classmate today about how children just take over your life (and you blog apparently). We waited 9 months for Lily to get here, and though that felt like forever, this has been so much longer. I have a hard time remembering back to when we didn't have Lily. It really feels like she has always been here. In any event I will post some video clips of her at the bottom.

On a somewhat related note we have spent a lot of time studying embreology (The study of how fetuses develope) over the past few months. It is honestly amazing that any of us not only survive being a fetus, but that we turn out relativly normal too. There is a bajillion things that can go wrong, and yet here we are. Safe and sound. It really is an amazing process.

Another Medical thought for you. With all the technology at our disposal I am still willing to bet money that we could not keep a human body alive with just a computer system. There are so many checks, balances, and adjustments in your blood pressure system alone just to stand up that I don't think we could compensate for them all. Because they in turn affect other things. (hormones, Heart output, digestion, etc.) If you need something to be thankful for be glad that your body can take care of itself without you needing to do anything. Honestly, just the act of standing up would be like doing your taxes mixed with a Calculus final just to get the calculations right.

Lily in the hall

Lily by the front

Lily and a toy

Lily sings (sort of)


Sorry the picture quality is so bad. Some of our new toys should make them better in the future. :-)

-Andrew

Family Pics

I always have lots of ideas to post and no time to work on them. In fact I don't have time to do this now, but I feel bad when I am angry at my friends for not posting new stuff and I haven't either. So here I am. We recently had family pictures done, and they turned out pretty well. Maybe I will post more of them later later. Anyone interested?

Andrew