We decided to use the long weekend to go visit my family in Peoria, IL. My mom was passing through for a few days on her way to Florida. We just got a bunch of her love and attention when we visited her up in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, but I hate to ever miss an opportunity for a visit, no matter how brief. They're off to Europe for a month in a few weeks, and plans are uncertain past that...maybe Mexico for a while...I can never remember! Mom swares all the travel can get tiresome, and she is a homebody at heart, I know, but I still envy her! As usual when we go to Peoria, we stayed at my dad and step-mom's. This is our first time visiting in their new house, that they just finished building and moving in to. I knew going in that we we would be spending a lot of time helping unpack, move things, etc. This became more important when we found out that my dad hurt his back again (through moving,unpacking,etc.) We enjoyed being there none-the-less; it's been a long time since we've all been over for a visit, as they've been as busy as we have. So it was nice to hang out, and my mom cooked a nice dinner for my brother's birthday and had us all over too. It was good to have (nearly) the whole family together; my sister and her family couldn't come as she's been sick. It was the perfect weekend for hanging out and grilling out after all this hot weather we've been having!

Board exams are now right around the corner, and you can cut the "anticipation" in the air at Palmer with a knife. All of a sudden I've started to notice a whole lot less socializing during breaks in the classes, and a whole lot more noses in study books. Mine included. This time around I'm taking Part II and PT boards. Three days with 8 tests. It will be a full weekend. Luckily we have Wednesday and Thursday off of classes before the exams start Friday. We get Monday of the following week off as well, I presume to unwind after a full day of tests on Sunday! I'm sure I'll need, and appreciate it. I know I did after Part I boards! If all goes well I'll have only Part III to take next March, and Part IV in May. I'm hoping for no re-takes!!!

Clinic is going well; I'm now managing four patients, with a few more that I'll be taking on in the next couple weeks. This should ensure that I will be able to maximize the student patient limit of fifty adjustments this tri. That will put me in a good position starting next tri, with the transition into the main clinic. To clarify, there's no limit on the amount of care you can render to patients that are students; it's just that only 50 of those patient encounters can count towards one's credits to graduate. At any rate, I feel like so far I'm on track.

Well, gotta get to class!

Never mind my previous comment regarding the cooler weather...it's back in the 90s again. Yuck.Oh well, summer is quickly coming to a close, and we'll soon be longing for it's return.

This coming break in October, I think I'm taking the family down to Florida for a week. I've been looking at vacation rentals in a few different areas. Saint Augustine (of coarse), Key West, and a little island just outside of Tampa/St.Pete called Anna Maria. I would like to go home (St. Aug) and hang out at my favorite spots, and share them with the fam. My mom and step-dad live there, but they will be in Europe during that time so that doesn't help the decision. i kind of wanted to look into the area, including Jacksonville and Amilia Island just north, for a possible location for our practice. But there's time for that still. Key West is always a blast, but they're having their big festival, Mardi Gras style, with the "adult" atmosphere... not the best time to bring the kids there! They try to appeal to families by having a "family day" but they're not fooling me. I (vaguely) remember a few public spectacles from my younger years there, that would now just lead to embarrassment/ awkward conversations with the kids! I think I'll pass. We're leaning towards Anna Maria. It's a quaint family friendly beach town on a barrier island. Gulf side means sunsets on the beach, a big plus. Calmer gulf-side waves will be better with Laney. Also the temp will still be appropriate for beach activities. It gets a bit cooler in St. Aug by then, and the Atlantic is colder year-round anyway, compared to the gulf. There's also some museums that we'd like to see. I love the Salvadore Dali Museum in St. Pete, and Kristi really wants to see it too. We'd also like to take the kids to the big aquarium there. Laney will LOVE it! Perhaps Busch Gardens; their African animal exhibits are great... And we could drive down to Naples/Marco Island for a day; we've been considering it as a location too. We'll see, once we're on the beach we may just want to chill out!

I know I'll be in the mood to relax after this tri is over. It's been crazy! And boards are quickly approaching, just two weeks away! Yikes! Just had three midterm exams today. a very busy day. They all went well though.

Time to go get my pumpkin (Laney).

It has been a beautiful week here in the Quad Cities. A decent amount of rain has awakened the flora, and cooled things off considerably. We got that new central air installed just in time for this open-window weather!! I don't mind though. I'm happy to say that this month's electric bill is half of what I payed last month. That new high efficiency system is making a huge difference. This nice weather means that I can focus on some outdoor projects around the house that I've been stalling on. Landscaping, sidewalks, roofing, new porch, etc... And walks down the street to the neighborhood park with Laney. She loves that park. The only problem is getting her to leave! The parks here in the QC are awesome, I have to say. The riverfront is one long park from our house in downtown Bettendorf all the way to and past downtown Davenport, a little over five miles. It's a great walk or bike ride, with the path right on the water. The other day I was on the path, and watching a freight barge, the Celebration Belle, our huge paddle-wheeler, and some pleasure craft sharing the beautiful Mississippi. There were many others enjoying the path, going for their morning run or bike ride. On the other side of the path is the riverfront highway, US67. Traffic was bustling by, and then a freight train came rolling through, right alongside the path. I was compelled to just sit down on a tree-shaded bench, and take in all the activity that surrounded me. With the skyline of downtown Davenport reflected in the water, the beautiful Arsenal Island riverfront across the river from me, with all it's historic structures lining the waterfront, I was taken back by the beauty, and liveliness, of this place. I drive this route every day to go to school, but I don't really appreciate it. i'm focused on driving, with NPR on the radio, or going over my studies in my head. It was a totally different perspective on something so seemingly familiar. I caught myself wishing that I had more time to slow down and appreciate the simple things in life. Then I realized that I do. There's just so much to appreciate, it took me this long to get to the riverfront path. Of course I've been there before, but I guess I wasn't in the right mindset to truly appreciate it. Like the time I tried jogging. Nothing like the feeling of an impending heart attack to ruin a zen moment! I was definitely not built for jogging. I think the j is silent, like yogging. It's new. yeah, not for me, not so much.
Then there was the last time that I took Laney down there. I thought she was going to follow that flock of geese right into the river! That girl has no fear. I never did either, until she was born... Now I 'm starting to understand my mother's perpetual worrying... It's caring. I guess it takes being a parent to really get it. Now I regret a lot of my daredevil youth, not for the experiences (which were awesome, injuries aside) or for the outcome (hey, I'm still alive, and I turned out alright..., right?) but for the worry and stress I know I put mom through. And she did so well with it. Never over-protective, she let me run and do and be, with such grace. Now, being a dad, and getting just a glimpse of the trials ahead, I'm in awe. Thanks Mom.

My first pointer for doing well on a technique practical is to have a firm grasp of the difference between right and left.

So I talked to my staff doc in the clinic, and he views doing that rad review as an acceptable place to be during class time, as it involved our patient's care. I'm glad to have an understanding doctor to work under!!!

Tech Review went pretty well. Today was a mock practical, and I was given a couple pointers on honing my adjusting skills. Glad to have gotten them before the real practical tomorrow!

Well, gotta run, I have a patient in a few minutes and I should go review his file...

Have I mentioned yet how hectic 7th tri is? Wow. It's like I'm trying to juggle a full-time job (clinic) and a full-time class schedule. Yesterday I had to be two places at the same time. I had to deliver a radiology review on some x-rays I took Tuesday night. When you take films, it's an iron-clad rule that you write a report and present your findings either the same or the next day. This is very important as there is a patient waiting to find out what the x-ray results are. Patient care always comes first. Well, I took the films right before close so that meant I needed to report the next day. there's two times you can present, morning (9:30) or afternoon (3:00). I didn't dare sign up for the morning, as I wouldn't even have access to the films to review them and write my report until 8am. It was my first rad review, and I wanted time to do properly prepare. So I signed up for the 3pm time, which is when I'm supposed to be in Clinical Methods. So I missed Clinic, and you can only miss twice, 3X and you have to repeat the course the next tri, which means graduate a tri later. Hopefully nothing comes up again this tri!

Well turns out I wrote my report wrong, based on the type of films I took. So I was told to redo my report and present the next day. I did that today, and it went much better! He could have made me do what's called a case study, where you do a big research paper and presentation on a specific radiology finding. You have to complete 10 of these anyway, but I didn't feel like that being lumped on my plate with everything else going on, and Part II and PT boards fast approching next month...

Oh! Gotta get to Tech Review class! Practical exam tomorrow!

Well a few weeks into the clinic experience and I'm happy to report that I have two new patients, and have been able to perform physicals, report of findings and deliver adjustments, and perform physical therapy. It's so exciting to be putting into action the things I've been learning these past years! Life is rather hectic right now, juggling clinic with my class load and home life. But it's all fitting together rather nicely.

It's been unusually hot this summer here, which has me second guessing moving south to practice after graduation! I think I was getting used to the mild summers (compared to Florida). It's been over 100 nearly every day for the last three weeks it seems! Lately I've been researching British Columbia, Canada, as a possible location for us. We have friends practicing up there, and the winters are actually milder than ours where they live! Summers don't get anywhere near as hot either. That's looking really enticing, I have to say! Last week the central air went out in my house. We were miserable for four days, waiting for attempted repairs, and finally a complete replacement. Ouch. Cost a fortune. (Well, a fortune for a student anyway, $2600!!!) Sure feels nice to have air again though!

The temp actually finally dropped today, it's only in the 80s. Feels cool by comparison! Homecoming at Palmer this weekend, so it's a short week. No classes thurs or friday. We were planning on attending, especially since a friend of ours will be presenting a seminar. We decided that since we didn't get a family vacation this summer, we really needed to get away for a few days. We decided to go up to Washington Island, on the tip of Door county Wisconsin, in lake Michigan, to visit my Mom and Step-Dad. It's been unusually hot up there too, but the forecast is looking nice. It's a 7 hour drive, plus a 45 minute ferry ride to the island, but it will be worth it to unwind for a few days and enjoy my Mom's awesome cooking! Laney and dartagnan love swimming in the lake too, so everyone should enjoy the time up there.

Well, gotta run, I have an appointment coming into the clinic. Yea!!!