The Past Couple of Weekends

Has it really been two weeks since I wrote last?! Wow, time sure flies! It seems as if so much has happened, but really, not many interesting things. Maybe it's just that I'm in class most of the time and I've learned so much that I think a lot is going on, when really, what's going on is all in my head. And, as I don't want to bore you with the details of what I'm learning, I'll give you a overview of what's been going on. We have begun our clinical experiences, in which we go to an acute care setting once every other week for half a day. I am at Massachusetts General Hospital and my clinical instructor, Kate, (the PT I follow, learn from, and am with) is so great! I'm really excited to learn from her and to see how she treats patients and to be able to not only see what it's like to work with patients, but be able to get a taste of working with real patients myself, of course with Kate's supervision. On the off weeks, we have a session at school with one of our professors doing different things that we'll be seeing in the hospital. It's like a practice run/preview of what's to come, which has been helpful to me in the past few weeks to know what to expect more and feel more confident in what we're doing. That's probably the most interesting class to talk about right now, but I am learning other things that are good and interesting as well. :) Other than that though, it's the T rides to school and the walk from North Station (where we get off the T) to school and then the walk and T ride home. On the T, I have been reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom and what a fantastic book it is! If you don't know, it is about Corrie's life and how God was faithful to her and her family during the Holocaust. They hid Jews in their home and eventually were caught and taken to a concentration camp. Her life and what she went through is heart-wrenching, but to see God's faithfulness through it all is incredible. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, spent the longest time in the concentration camp and to see how the Lord provided for them throughout their time, in the midst of evil and torture is so amazing. I'm not quite done with it, but it is such a God-glorifying and encouraging book, seeing the Lord work in such a tumultuous time and I definitely recommend it if you have not read it. Back to...the walk! It is so nice and when we get out of school in the evening, the sunsets are gorgeous! Here's a few pictures I took one night on our way to North Station:

Boston at dusk with sailboats in the foreground

The Zakim Bridge at sunset

The Zakim Bridge with cars

This is one from a morning walk; Bunker Hill Monument

Let me see...other than school. Last weekend, one of our classmates so graciously lent Hannah, Shirin, and I her car so we could make one more trip to Ikea. What we wanted to take half the day ended up taking the whole day, but it was filled with fun! We got to Ikea and got a coffee table, side table, television stand, and a few other odds and ends. So, our living room is complete now!!! It's rather exciting to see things come together and have our space usable and functional. I also got some picture frames from Ikea, which I'm really excited about. I ordered some prints last week and they should be here hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday. Yay!!! I'm really excited to put the pictures in the frames and then hang them up on my walls. I just hope it looks as good as I am imaging it to be. :) After Ikea, we made a stop at Target for three things. I got a microwave, Hannah got a space heater, and Shirin got a dust buster. Haha...Target drew us in and we came out with just a few more things. They were things we needed, but didn't exactly go to Target to get them. But, that's okay. It was a very enjoyable day and great to spend time with the girls. :)

This weekend, I finally did laundry and really excited to have clean clothes! Sometimes, when I wait quite a long time to do laundry, I forget about some of the clothes I have because they've been sitting at the bottom of the hamper for quite a while. So, now, I have more clothes to choose from and it's wonderful. I studied a bit yesterday and then cleaned the stove last night. What a chore that was! the stove itself has probably been cleaned semi-recently, but the pans underneath the (electric) burners were disgusting and probably hadn't been cleaned in a very, very long time. So, that took a while, but we now have a clean stove and it makes me happy when I look at it. (haha...I haven't cooked on it yet, but I'll be extra happy when I actually use it.) This afternoon, I continued my cleaning and cleaned my blinds. They were gross as well and probably haven't been cleaned in at least two, probably five, years. Thankfully, one of my blinds needed replacing, so I only had to clean one and then I took down the other disgusting one and put up the brand-new, nice, and clean blinds. Thanks mom for making us clean the blinds when we were growing up! Have you started your teaching kids how to clean business yet? :) I think I might have issues when I clean because once I start, I can't stop! I just continue to inspect more closely and then see more and more things that are dirty and what was going to be just cleaning the top of the stove (the pans and such) turned into wiping the walls down, cleaning the dials for the stove and underneath them, wiping the outside of the oven, cleaning the counters, and it almost turned into cleaning the outside of the refrigerator, the inside of the oven, the heater strip in the kitchen, more kitchen walls. I just kept eyeing dirt everywhere! Once I start, I can't stop (as long as I'm in the cleaning mood)...isn't that a commercial jingle for something? Pringles maybe? Once you pop, you can't stop? I don't know. :)

How could I almost forget! Friday night was a lot of fun too. I went out with a few classmates, which was really enjoyable and then went to my friend's housewarming party. This friend is a friend from high school and we haven't seen or talked to each other since, but now we are both living here in Boston. Crazy, huh?! It's about a twenty minute T ride to her place, which is so cute! It was great to see her and catch up/reconnect a bit and I anticipate seeing more of her as time goes on. Kinda fun! Then, as I was on my way home, from the house warming party, I was on the T and sat next to some girl, or so I thought it was some girl. After a few minutes, she turns to me and says questioningly, "Janelle?!" I turned and looked at here and in disbelief saw Christina Stellini sitting next to me on the T at 11:30 at night in Boston. For those of you who don't know, Christina's dad was my high school basketball coach and she was an assistant coach my senior year as well. Ha! She was out here for four or five days visiting her boyfriend and job hunting. That was a crazy and unbelievable moment! Oh, right, and her boyfriend lives maybe two or two and a half blocks away from me! So, we got off at the same stop. What a surprise that T ride was; and a fun surprise it was!

I had the chance to talk to my mom, sister, Stephen, Grandma, and Grandpa this weekend, which gave me some good family time! And, only twelve more days until Cari is here to visit!!! I am so excited for that weekend, but first, I must get through the week ahead of me. I have one exam on Tuesday and a practical on Thursday. But, I don't have anything on Wednesday, which will be such a rare treat!!! :) It will be a good day to get quite a bit done!