Good weekend!
Friday: Ben actually made it in at a reasonable time instead of spending 3-4 hours in traffic. That was most exciting! I also got in a great workout, doing the elliptical to not one but two episodes of The Office. Ben watched 1x08 of Dollhouse with me. He's not so fond of it but willingly watches it with me, whereas I am intrigued; I spend the episodes with an eyebrow quirked. I'm not 100% engaged -- I expect it's a bit harder when your main character is someone different every week -- but I'm definitely enjoying it and hoping Joss takes it in a great direction.
Saturday: Snuggled with Ben in the morning, then went and got in a very productive study session at the Starbucks. The new studying techniques are really helping, I think; tonight I went through and reviewed vocally some of the stuff and that, combined with the bright colors, highlights, and breaking everything down into small sections really cemented things. After my studying I came back to the apartment and Ben and I went out to The Olive Garden That Time Forgot, AKA the only Olive Garden I've ever been to where you only have to wait 15 minutes to be seated on a Saturday night, and crowds are pretty much unheard of. In the same parking lot though was a place called Prehistoric Pets, which not only had tortoises that fit in the palm of your hand for purchase, but a collection of red-eared sliders, a HUUUUGE monitor the size of a medium dog, and several Burmese pythons (not for sale, happily -- just for reptile shows). We got to see a Savannah monitor eat not one but three mice, which was fucking awesome -- they tossed them in one at a time and he caught them in midair, then shook them hard and set about swallowing them whole. AWESOME. After that Olive Garden fare seemed pretty tame, but it was still tasty. :-P The rest of the night was spent playing Mexican Train (a variant of double-12 dominoes) and watching MacGyver.
Sunday: Today was Easter and I do actually have family in the area, as convoluted as my relation to them is. (My dad's adoptive-dad's second wife's family.) I snuggled Ben in the morning and then headed out to Burbank alone, as Ben had loads of homework due. Traffic was a bit bothersome on the way up, but that was made up for by Easter dinner, which was quite fun. This portion of the family is extremely snarky and rather on the coarse side at times, which is funny to me after holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's where Grandpa put the fear of God into everyone, not just us kids! Being able to curse in front of the adults without them giving you a dirty look is a new feeling. ;) This is the branch of the family that usually plies me with copious amounts of red wine, lol, another huge no-no at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I had a lot of fun talking with people, hiding eggs for the little girls in extra-sneaky places, playing dominoes with two adoptive-step-cousins with a 15-year age difference, and getting pooped on by a mockingbird, haha. I also had fun trying to figure out everyone's relation to everyone else. Still can't figure out who the random Irishman is, though he's a very nice man, lol. Good times!
Time for bed now... I have an 8:00 clinical skills session called "Avian Techniques." I have no idea if that means learning how to draw samples on birds, learning to restrain them, or learning to dissect them... guess I'll find out in the morning! :) Should be a busy week -- I'm going to an ophthalmology lecture for dinner tomorrow night, doing a horse exam in Norco Tuesday morning, eating lunch with the Dean and the other Morris Animal Foundation recipients and their mentors, and doing an ophthalmology clinical skills session on Wednesday. Whew! :)
Saturday: Snuggled with Ben in the morning, then went and got in a very productive study session at the Starbucks. The new studying techniques are really helping, I think; tonight I went through and reviewed vocally some of the stuff and that, combined with the bright colors, highlights, and breaking everything down into small sections really cemented things. After my studying I came back to the apartment and Ben and I went out to The Olive Garden That Time Forgot, AKA the only Olive Garden I've ever been to where you only have to wait 15 minutes to be seated on a Saturday night, and crowds are pretty much unheard of. In the same parking lot though was a place called Prehistoric Pets, which not only had tortoises that fit in the palm of your hand for purchase, but a collection of red-eared sliders, a HUUUUGE monitor the size of a medium dog, and several Burmese pythons (not for sale, happily -- just for reptile shows). We got to see a Savannah monitor eat not one but three mice, which was fucking awesome -- they tossed them in one at a time and he caught them in midair, then shook them hard and set about swallowing them whole. AWESOME. After that Olive Garden fare seemed pretty tame, but it was still tasty. :-P The rest of the night was spent playing Mexican Train (a variant of double-12 dominoes) and watching MacGyver.
Sunday: Today was Easter and I do actually have family in the area, as convoluted as my relation to them is. (My dad's adoptive-dad's second wife's family.) I snuggled Ben in the morning and then headed out to Burbank alone, as Ben had loads of homework due. Traffic was a bit bothersome on the way up, but that was made up for by Easter dinner, which was quite fun. This portion of the family is extremely snarky and rather on the coarse side at times, which is funny to me after holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's where Grandpa put the fear of God into everyone, not just us kids! Being able to curse in front of the adults without them giving you a dirty look is a new feeling. ;) This is the branch of the family that usually plies me with copious amounts of red wine, lol, another huge no-no at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I had a lot of fun talking with people, hiding eggs for the little girls in extra-sneaky places, playing dominoes with two adoptive-step-cousins with a 15-year age difference, and getting pooped on by a mockingbird, haha. I also had fun trying to figure out everyone's relation to everyone else. Still can't figure out who the random Irishman is, though he's a very nice man, lol. Good times!
Time for bed now... I have an 8:00 clinical skills session called "Avian Techniques." I have no idea if that means learning how to draw samples on birds, learning to restrain them, or learning to dissect them... guess I'll find out in the morning! :) Should be a busy week -- I'm going to an ophthalmology lecture for dinner tomorrow night, doing a horse exam in Norco Tuesday morning, eating lunch with the Dean and the other Morris Animal Foundation recipients and their mentors, and doing an ophthalmology clinical skills session on Wednesday. Whew! :)