She emerges...

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while since my last blog post. I just finished a week of midterms (biochemistry and physiology/histology), and have another one a week tomorrow (anatomy). Thankfully, it's also our study break. I don't think I've ever been so grateful for a week off of classes! I will be using this time to camp out in the anatomy museum and rote memorize every little tuberosity and notch in every single bone, all of the appendicular and axial muscles plus all of their origins and insertions, and try at the same time to put it all together to form some kind of workable model in my brain of how animal bodies move. I cannot believe we have only had 5 weeks of classes!

My midterms, I think, went fairly well. I did already get my results back for biochem, and was really pleased. The physiology and histology exam was harder, but seemed to go reasonably well. The evening of our second exam, Iain and I had a bunch of friends over for a celebratory spaghetti dinner. The dogs love having company over because they get utterly spoiled and fussed over! Our friends presented us with newly-purchased cutlery and a plate/bowl set as a housewarming gift. We were so touched at their generosity! I really feel as if I already have friends for life in this program- it's still a bit surreal to think that we will be studying/working/playing together for the next 5 years, but I'm grateful for that fact!

I took Friday night and Saturday completely off from studying of any kind. Friday afternoon after classes, a few of my friends and I walked the three hospital greyhounds. It's a bit of a weekly event now, and it feels really good to get the dogs outside for a run and then, because they are greyhounds, a lazy snuggle in the grass. The current dogs' names are Leo, Suzie, and George. Leo is my most favorite color of brindle- dark stripes on very pale, almost caramel color. I will have to take some pictures next week! In contrast to the dogs we walked the first time, these three love people and actively seek out affection from humans. I have come to the conclusion that greyhounds have the most lovely kissable faces- I think it's something to do with their little pinheads that are so easy to cup in my hands! Friday evening, Iain and I packed some sandwiches and a blanket and walked to the local park, where our suburb was hosting a family movie night. They were playing a Japanese animated movie called "My Neighbor Totoro" on a giant projector, so we snuggled up and watched it surrounded by lots of families. It was so peaceful. It even got a tiny bit chilly as the evening progressed, which was a first! I went to bed pretty early on Friday, as I think I still needed to catch up on sleep from the week's events.

Yesterday (Saturday), Iain and I went to a marriage equality rally in downtown Perth. We went with two other vet school friends, Maren and Cassie. We had a really great time and it was so nice to see so many people joining together to speak out against legislated discrimination. After the rally, we had some lunch and did a bit of shopping. Perth city is like being in a whole different world from "south of the river", which is where we live. My normal day-to-day life takes place in the suburbs, and I rarely go anywhere besides school and home, and sometimes Freo. It was really nice to be out and about and not have to worry about getting home to study! Saturday was also wonderful because I got to Skype with family members for the very first time. Now that we've just had unlimited wireless internet installed in our house, we are able to do things like Skype which normally take up a lot of bandwidth. I shed a few tears, but it made me feel so much closer to my family members to be able to speak to them face-to-face!

This afternoon, my goal is to do some anatomy, some physiology reading, and one VPL (vet professional life) write up to feel good about my day's work. I'd better get on that now! Lots of love to everyone back home- I miss you all everyday, and I will try to write another update later in the week.